Technical Colleges vs 4 year Colleges

Kayleigh Davis

According to Wisconsin public radio in the fall of 2020, 640,822 students attend colleges in Wisconsin out of all those students 314,835 attended technical colleges. While a four year college may seem like the natural next step for most high school graduates, technical colleges are a great alternative for students who can’t afford to pay for a traditional college and want to learn hands on skills. 

Technical colleges focus solely on your career. Students who attend a 4 year college have to finish their general education in math, english and history. Tech colleges do not require their students to take these basic subjects before moving into classes that focus on what they’ll actually do in their chosen line of work . Also tech schools usually run their classes year round. Which means you don’t have to wait for the new academic year to start for you to begin your program. As stated in the article Technical Education vs. Four-year college Technical colleges tend to offer more hands-on learning and require fewer unnecessary classes than four-year colleges” which means your schooling could be easier and done quicker. 

More affordable it will cost you much less than if you were to go to a four-year university. The programs offered by technical schools are usually shorter than four years. Because they are, you’ll pay less for tuition and fees. You’ll also have fewer textbooks to purchase. In fact, many technical colleges include everything that you’ll need to complete a program in their cost of tuition. For example, one of the tech colleges known as North Central Technical College (NTC) offers this for their students. To save even more, live at home and avoid paying high housing costs. Like Ms. Altman- Austin, Assistant principal of SPASH, says “Tech college cost is much less and SPASH even offers dual credit classes”.  Students at SPASH can even take specific courses called dual credit to earn free college credits that’ll save you lots of money when the time comes. Students can find this list on the SPASH website under our school ,counseling office, and then course planning.

For easier flexibility and time management most technical colleges offer accelerated options which can be completed in weeks instead of months. Certain colleges also offer staggered start dates. There are even fully online or hybrid courses, hybrid courses are classes that are in person and online. Another option would be Telecourses also known as pre recorded or a computer based learning which also helps your classes work around your schedule.

While four-year schools have their benefits, graduating from a technical college may be a better choice. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be working in your chosen field more quickly, allowing you to begin your life sooner rather than later.