BEWARE of private vocational schools. I am a successful LVN. I have been to public colleges (I am attending one now for my RN) and went to a private vocational school in the Antelope Valley area in So. Calif. for my LVN. Public colleges have a chain of command and protocols to follow. They are more regulated. If you are having a problem in the class there is always someone to go to. BEWARE of vocational schools who grade on a curve! They fool the student into thinking he/she is passing, then when the last installment of the student loan is paid to the school, they take the money and drop the student, keeping the money and the student is SOL. They do this in an attempt to protect their NCLEX pass rates. They will drop students at the end of the year whom they feel will have no chance of passing the NCLEX! The student never gets a chance after all of that hard work! The student is stuck with a $19,000 student loan and no recourse and no chance to sit for the NCLEX. Another tactic is that the class and clinical instructor will give you your grade for the quarter and you will sign for it, then the CEO (based on vendettas and/or whims) will just drop the student's grade, lower the score. The student has no recourse. The individuals involved refuse to discuss the issues with the students. In a public college, a student can go to the Dean, not so with the private vocational schools. Another game they play is to tell the student to study chapters 1-5 for a test, then test the student on chapters 27-35 (for example). The students again have no recourse and the CEO refuses to correct the wrong. Some skills were highly stressed and students expelled for the inability to perform to the CEO's standards (not the state's), these are skills ONLY utilized by RNs. I have seen instructors in private vocational schools give the students answers prior to class tests. The students have yet to pass the NCLEX. In vocational schools politics are paramount. If you can't play politics and are not good at "Kissing up to the right people" as far a staff goes, forget it. You better keep your grades high and your nose clean or you're out. After my experience with Vocational schools and public colleges, I will ALWAYS choose a public college and will NEVER recommend a private vocational school, especially the one I attended. If you are interested in a private vocational school, interview a lot of nurses, not the students the school recommends - they are handpicked and will not give an honest review. Also look up their NCLEX pass rates. Don't believe advertisment. My school was advertising 100% pass rate, but they were kicking students out that they felt had no chance after taking all of their money, the pass rate for this school now is 68%. Find out how they grade. Ask local hospitals about the school. I believed the staff when they said we would do our clinicals locally. After we were committed to the curriculum, we found out we had to drive almost 200 miles round trip because that school was not welcomed in any of the local hospitals. I wish I had done more research. At least now I have my license and I am making $25/hr working registry and going to RN school. Nursing is a FABULOUS career. I am not unhappy I made the decision to become a nurse, just in my choice of schools.

Most of the millionaires in the United States started out as plumbing, heating, siding and roofing contractors.

Today there is a big push to go to college, but trade schools may be a cost effective option. If someone learns a trade, he will most often always have an decent income. It could be a base from which to build. Earn money and take college courses if your goal requires a college degree. When I attended college right out of high school, I saw the older students, who spend time in the military, or worked in the trades, were much more focused on the course material and did better overall. They had their act together. They were not there just taking up space like the majority of the students I saw there.

Like a technical school, trade schools won't make you waste your time learning subjects that have no bearing on the desired degree. An excellent idea, but they get a bad rap.