Education
High School Ed ca ion.
A high school diploma or other
certification of academic skills at the high school level is necessary for many of today s jobs, and for admission into most training programs or institutions of higher education. If you finished high school but have lost your diploma, you can get a replacemen diploma.
If you don t have a high school diploma but want to get one, here are some possibilities:
Gene al Ed ca ional
De elopmen (GED) Ce ifica e
The General Educational Development (GED) certificate is a nationwide program for people 16 years of age and older who have not completed high school. The GED certification process administers tests in five subject areas:
Language Arts: Writing (also in Spanish or French) Language Arts: Reading Social Studies: American and world history, civics, government, economics, geography
Mathematics: Number operations, algebra, geometry, probability and statistics
Science: Life science, earth
Con en
1 High School Education. 1.1 General Educational Development (GED) Certificate
1.2 National E ternal Diploma Program (NEDP) 1.3 High School Online 1.4 Pa ing for High School Education 2 Post High School Education and Training
2.1 Technical and Trade Education
2.2 Communit Colleges 2.3 Colleges and
Universities
2.4 Post High School Education Online 3 Educational Qualit
3.1 Accreditation
3.2 Course Offerings and Curriculum
3.3 Qualit of Instruction 4 Pa ing for Post High School Education
4.1 Reducing Your Costs 4.1.1 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
4.1.2 Scholarships and grants
4.1.3 Work-stud programs
4.2 Education Loans 4.2.1 Federal student loans
4.2.2 Private student loans
4.2.3 Peer-to-peer loans
4.3 School-sponsored emergenc loans 5 Credit for Education at Foreign Institutions
5.1 American-Sponsored Stud Abroad
a d ace cie ce, h ica cie ce
GED ca dida e a e e i e a ca i de ig a ed b S a e B a d f Ed ca i . Pe e h ha e cce f c e ed a fi e
e ecei e a ce ifica e a i g ha hei ed ca i i a A e ica Ca adia high ch ed ca i e e . M a e ffe g a he
e e a he GED e a . S e a e cha ge f he e g a ; fee a f a e a e. Y ca ge
i f a i ab he GED g a a d e i e e i a e. Y ca a e GED a e e e i ge a idea f h ch e a a i
igh eed.
Y ca fi d ge e a i f a i ab he GED i e.
The GED g a i ef f
e e h i e d e i a a e i g e high ch ed ca i . P ec i e e e a efe a high
ch di a a GED.
National E ternal Diploma
Program (NEDP)
If i e i e f he i e a e ha ffe i , he Na i a E e a Di a P g a (NEDP) igh be a ef a e a i e he GED.
The NEDP i f ad aged 21 de h ha e
had ece ch i g e - a i g e e ie ce, b
h ha e ac i ed high ch - e e acade ic i e e he e ha i high
ch .
If a f hi
program, you will be evaluated on your skills in reading, writing, and math, and also on entry-level job skills.
You then get a report that shows the skills you need to improve, plus a list of
places where you can get that instruction or training. When you complete the process, you will get another evaluation. If you pass, you will get an adult high school diploma.
The NEDP program is run through the local public schools. You can check the NEDP program Web site to see if it's available in your state.
High Sch
l O li e
Online education is an increasingly popular option for all levels, including high school. This option is attractive because it s convenient and flexible, but there are pitfalls related to quality and price. If you are considering online high school programs, the section on
Educational Qualit will be helpful to you. There is a wide variety of online education programs:
Some online high school programs are primarily directed to teenagers being home-schooled; others focus on adults coming back to school after a break.
in classes to complete a fixed curriculum.
Some provide online exams corrected by a teacher, while others leave it to the students to take and check their own exams.
Some offer access to help and instructors by phone and email; others offer only email access.
Some programs offer a high school diploma; others simply provide preparation for the GED. Some online options even make bogus offers, such as issuing their own GED certificate. (The state must issue the GED, following an exam the individual must take in person.)
Some plainly list their accreditation, but others say little or nothing about their credentials.
Some online programs are dot-coms (.com), which indicates that they are likely to be for-profit schools, while others are
dot-edus (.edu), or nonprofit educational institutions.
Prices for online programs range from free to
thousands of dollars.
Pa ing for High School
Education
Although there are some no- or low-cost programs for people who want to
may not have the resources to pay for needed exams, materials, or even low tuition. There are grants and
scholarships for high school students in need:
Many are funded by large companies or advocacy organizations.
Some are one-time grants; some are longer term. Some are prizes for contests, such as essays on a given topic.
You can find information about
scholarships for high school students, and lists of scholarships at the following Web sites:
highscholarships.com scholarships4students.com Fast eb.com
Po High School Ed ca ion
and T aining
Post high school education includes any formal training after high school. The quality of high school education is extremely variable, so post high school education or training has become increasingly desirable. There are many kinds of higher education credentials, ranging from certificates of proficiency in specific skills to doctoral degrees.
There is no simple formula for what to learn, where to learn it, or how to pay for it.
Before you embark on a career-training program, it is important to have a complete understanding of what the career entails, including your aptitude for the tasks involved, working hours, and career paths. Your education process depends on your interests, career goals, priorities, and financial situation.
Some people choose an educational goal, focus intensely on it, and zoom through on grants and loans to be repaid in the future. Others with the same goal may prefer to take more time and end up with less debt. Still others will take a course here and there, as time and resources permit.
And some defer educational dreams, returning to school when financial pressures ease, to study subjects that interest them.
Because higher education is so flexible, you can usually adjust your plan if you change your mind about your goal, subject, or school, or if your financial situation changes.
Many careers have nonspecific or several different career paths. It s worth thinking through all the possibilities before you embark on an expensive and perhaps unnecessary
A senior executive in a large business may have gone through college and a
graduate school of business, or she may have started at the business in an unskilled position straight out of high school.
A professional artist or writer may have a Master of Fine Arts degree, or he may have no degree at all.
Technical and Trade Ed ca ion
Many schools offer specialized training in fields such as cosmetology, plumbing, dental or medical skills, construction, auto repair, court reporting, or electronics.
Occupations like these require specific skills.
Practitioners generally need a certificate or license. Most of these occupations (unlike manufacturing jobs) won t migrate overseas because they provide services needed locally. You can get technical training at dedicated skills schools, community
colleges, and, in some cases, through trade union programs.
Courses may be as short as four to six months, or as long as several years. For some ideas about trade schools, you might look at
a d ca i g, e di g, a d echa ica d af i g.
Communit Colleges
C i c ege a e - ea b ic i i i ha ffe a b ad a ge f c e , hich ead a ce ifica e a cia e deg ee, e e a a b idge a f - ea c ege. C i c ege a e e e e a beca e he a e
e a i e i e e i e a d ffe a ide a ge f i :
M a ffe i e di a ce- ea i g g a f e e h fi d i ha d
ge ca . Ma ha e e ce e
e a i , a d hei c edi a e ide acce ed a he i i i .
The a ffe e edia f de h e high ch ai i g a i ade a e.
E a ce e i e e a e fai i e:
M c i c ege
acce a high ch
di a GED ce ifica e f fi hei e a ce e i e e .
M a ec g i e h e-ch i g c e i a he e i a e f high ch f
de aged 16 de h ha e a c f a ig ed h e- ch ag ee e be ee a
a e a d he ch
e he e he de i ed a he i e.
career improvement, you may not need the high school diploma.
Community colleges generally offer programs in
standard liberal arts curricula (humanities, sciences, mathematics, arts)
business marketing health sciences
computer applications
Among the many advantages you may find with community colleges are
small class size,
placement testing, and college and career counseling.
The Web site of the American
Association of Community Colleges has helpful information about community colleges.(There are numerous .com Web sites whose information is less complete and more focused on getting information from you, such as your email address.)
Colleges and Uni ersities
In the United States, the line between “college” and “university” is blurred.
A university is a collection of colleges that also offers master s degrees and doctorates (the highest academic degrees). But some colleges offer masters degrees or other graduate programs in some areas.
Some colleges are essentially professional schools, such as colleges of engineering.
Some colleges offer only postgraduate programs, such as law or business. And some schools that offer college-like programs are called “institutes.”
In the United States four-year colleges and universities may be:
Public institutions,
supported by state or city taxes;
Private institutions, which receive no outright
government subsidies; Residential schools, where most of the students come from elsewhere and live in school-supplied housing; or “Commuter” schools, where most of the students live in the area and commute to school from their homes.
And, of course, there are online schools, which require few or no personal
appearances by the students.
are usually far lower than at private schools, scholarships may make the private school equally affordable.
The essential requirement for admission to schools of advanced learning is a high school diploma. But four-year colleges and universities generally have additional requirements and measures:
By far the most common and most important requirement is the
applicant s level of ability and likelihood of
successfully graduating from the school, as
indicated by his high school grades and entrance test results.
Most schools can
accommodate only a limited number of students
(although that number may be in the tens of
thousands). If they have more qualified applicants than openings, schools will use criteria such as the applicants interests, geographic location, or cultural background to select who will be admitted. Public universities will give preference to those who live in their area of service, usually charging higher tuition to those who live outside that area.
Private schools, in contrast, often seek “diversity,” preferring students whose lives and experiences
Some state universities guarantee admission to students who have completed two years of community college with a given grade point average (GPA).
Po High School Ed ca ion
Online
Because of its convenience, education online, or distance learning, is often attractive for people who must earn their living or care for family members while they seek their education. All the
considerations listed under Educational Qualit apply to online courses, with some additional precautions:
Technical support and reliability are a necessity. You need dependable access to the essential Internet sites, and someone to turn to for help if you have a technical problem. Instructors must be proficient in the technical skills required, as well as in their educational
specialties.
Student must have reasonable access to the instructor or a qualified assistant for questions about the course materials or assignments.
Students should get regular and personal feedback about how they are doing in the course.
institution provide for such activities, and how does it check the quality of the facilities where it sends its students?
If schools offer both on site and online courses, are the qualifications and
experience of the online instructors comparable to those of the on site instructors?
Consider also the structure of the program:
Are students required to be available at fixed times for discussion, or from time to time for a face-to-face meeting?
Are tests self-corrected, or reviewed and corrected by instructors?
Does your computer have the required technical capabilities?
Potential employers may not regard an online college or university degree with the same respect as a degree from a traditional school.
Educational Qualit
Most people who go to school want both to learn and to get credit for the
learning. So it is extremely important to check the quality of any educational institution you re thinking of attending.
people who may have paid them thousands of dollars. Local schools with little or no widespread prestige may offer excellent programs. Large, expensive, nationally prominent schools may have great prestige, but they may offer programs of uneven quality with little flexibility or personal
attention to their students.
Following are some topics to consider when you are assessing the quality of a school.
Accredi a ion
Accreditation certifies that the services and operations of an educational
institution meet certain professionally accepted standards. Accrediting agencies are also responsible for
monitoring schools in their specific areas of education or training. There are dozens of accrediting agencies, but not all are recognized by the U.S.
Department of Education.
If you think you may want to apply for government loans to help fund your education, you must enroll at an
institution accredited by an agency that the government recognizes
Any school or training program you consider should be accredited by a “recognized” accrediting agency, one you can find on the government s list. If it is not, its certificates or diplomas will be of doubtful value. You can find more information and a complete list of national accrediting agencies here.
accrediting agencies: national and regional. Schools accredited by national accrediting organizations are
generally for-profit, and offer vocational, technical and career training.
There are do ens of national accrediting agencies.
Some are general, such as the Distance Education and Training Council.
Others, like the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, focus on specific fields.
Schools accredited by regional agencies
are generally academically oriented, nonprofit
institutions, and
include both public and private colleges and universities.
There are onl si regional
accrediting agencies. They are all called Association of Colleges and Schools, preceded by the regions they cover:
New England Middle States Southern North Central Northwest Western
There are also dozens of accreditation organizations that do no have
government recognition.
Their endorsement is of limited value because it does not necessarily
the recognized accreditors. The government will not fund education at schools that lack accreditation from a recognized organization.
Co rse Offerings and
C rric l m
Once you are satisfied with its
accreditation, you will want to make sure that any institution you enroll in offers the curriculum, or course of instruction, that will qualify you to meet your goal.
If, for instance, you re interested in cooking or food service, you can find hundreds of schools that offer training in culinary arts:
Offerings range from a certificate after six months to a bachelor s degree after three years—all “culinary arts” certifications.
You can specialize in a given cuisine, such as French or Italian, or in a given focus area, such as pastry cooking or restaurant management. And if you re in it to earn a living, you don t want to find yourself in a “cooking is my favorite hobby” class.
certificate as a building engineer, a very different occupation.
Here are some ways to confirm that a school s curriculum meets your needs:
Check the career
descriptions at the U.S. Go ernment Department of Labor Web site for a list of the qualifications you will need for a career or careers you are considering, and see how they compare with the school s offerings.
Review and compare the courses and requirements of three or four different
institutions that offer the certificate or degree you want. They should all be similar, even though differently presented. For instance, some schools require specific courses in particular areas, while others require a given number of courses in each of certain fields, and still others have no required courses.
If you want to advance in a field you are already
working in, talk to a supervisor or qualified co-worker about the training they think would be most helpful.
Talk to graduates of the school who are doing the work you are interested in.
Qualit of Instruction
Quality of instruction is more difficult to measure than some of the other aspects of an educational program or institution. Accrediting agencies measure instructors degrees and other qualifications, but this doesn t tell you about their teaching methods or abilities.
A course taught by Instructor X may be informative and exciting, while the same course taught by Instructor Z may be boring and trite.
Some courses lend
themselves to large lecture format, while others require small classes with hands-on assistance from the
instructor. Depending on the subject, you may be able to make your own judgment. For instance, a science course that lacks hands-on laboratory instruction is probably not the best training.
are accepted by four-year accredited colleges and universities or other
institutions where you may want to transfer for
advanced training.
Some schools offer online reviews of teachers, written by students who have taken their courses.
Pa ing for Post High
School Education
Even at a public college or university, the costs may be huge. When you invest in post-high school training, it s critically important to confirm that the return will justify your costs. Some for-profit institutions charge so much, especially for skills- and trades-training, that your earnings may never cover your tuition costs.
Another important consideration in planning for post-secondary education is how you will pay for it.
Essentially, there are three options:
Pay as you go, using savings and current income Reduce your costs
Borrow
Most people use more than one of these methods, and some use all of them. You can find good descriptions of the possibilities and helpful information at these Web sites:
www.FinAid.org,an overview of the
The choices and process for educational funding are so complicated that you may want to download or even get a print copy of the government booklet, Funding
Education Be ond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid. You can order it online, by phone at 1-800-394-7084 or 1-877-433-7827, or by writing to ED Pubs, Educational Publications Center, U.S. Dept of Education, PO Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794.
Most colleges and universities have a fi a cial aid ffice, whose
representatives will give you helpful advice about the best way to pay your student costs. By and large, college financial aid officials are knowledgeable and caring. But their perspective will be different from yours. They don t have to pay your bills, and they do have an interest in getting you to enroll; so they may be less concerned than you are about how to repay large amounts of debt.
Red cing Yo Co
The best way to fund your education is to pay as you go. This means
looking for the most economical program that meets your needs,
using savings and current income from jobs,
seeking grants and scholarships,
or finding work-study programs
to reduce your costs.
To find out more about your eligibility for grants and loans, you can fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is required when you are applying for government assistance.
Most private institutions use the FAFSA as a basis for their decisions about grants, work-study programs, and loans.
To learn about this form, go to the government's FAFSA site. There you will find a link to the FAFSA4caster, which you can fill out to get an estimate of your
eligibility for federal aid. After you submit the
completed form, you will get a Student Aid Report that lists the Expected Family Contribution, or the amount the federal
government has determined you should pay to attend the school or schools you plan to attend.
Schola hip and g an
Scholarships and grants are gifts of money or reductions in tuition. There are numerous sources of grants and
scholarships:
The fede al go e nmen
issues Pell grants, based on need. You can find out more about these grants.
Indi id al college and ni e i ie offer grants,
submit the FAFSA, the same form as the federal government uses, to
calculate need. The amount of available funds may be limited, and schools formulas for determining need may differ from school to school.
Private scholarships are
offered by many
organizations, sometimes as prizes. You can get
information about these “private” scholarships at commercial sites like
Scholarships.com and Fastweb. com, as well as from the sites above. To get information at these sites, you may have to give information about yourself that may be useful to their owners.
Companies may offer
scholarships and grants to employees and their
families. If you or a family member works at a large corporation, don t overlook this possibility.
If ou are in the militar or are interested in a career in the militar ,consider a
military source of aid. All military options require a commitment to a term of service upon completion of the course. Options include
Aid for members of the military and their families. Reserve officers training corps (ROTC).
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Your FAFSA status
determines your eligibility for these programs.
Programs may involve working off-campus at nonprofit or public agencies.
Another possibility is school-funded part-time work on campus.
These jobs are not based on your FAFSA status and are not considered part of a financial aid package.
Income from regular campus jobs is taxable and will be considered as a resource in financial aid requests.
Ed ca ion Loan
Because advanced education often results in greater income, education is one of the few areas in which borrowing money sometimes makes sense. But it is important to think carefully befo e you borrow about when and how you will repay any loans. If you are not familiar with the basics, you can read the section on borro ing and lending
money for an overview of what s involved in taking out a loan.
Government policies make it very easy to get an
education loan, but banks and other lending
institutions are under no obligation to point out possible difficulties in repaying loans.
earnings. You don t want to find yourself owing tens of thousands of dollars on an income that isn t enough to cover loan payments
without hardship.
To figure out how much you can afford to borrow:
Start by making a rough estimate of the income you realistically expect to have after you complete your education.
Subtract your living costs (including taxes).
Set aside part of the remainder for savings and emergencies.
What s left is approximately what you will have available to pay off your loan.
It s important to be sure the repayment terms of any loan are clear and specific, and that you understand them.
Fede al
den loan
The federal government makes a variety of loans:
A subsidi ed loan is one that does not accumulate interest while the student is in school. To get this kind of loan, a student must be deemed eligible through the FAFSA process.
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You can find a good summary of these options at .SimpleTuition.com.
Peer-to-peer loans
A recent innovation involves private lending on a personal basis between individuals.
GreenNote organizes
students personal networks to generate and consolidate numerous small loans
toward an overall total.
Lenders set a fixed interest rate and formalize a loan agreement.
There is a one-time fee for students and a management fee for the lenders.
Prosper.com also offers unsecured personal loans to students.
The site works on an auction basis, offering three-year loans at fixed rates.
This business charges a fee, currently 3% or a minimum of $50, for finalizing a loan. Monthly payments are
withdrawn automatically from your bank account.
School-sponsored emergenc
loans
an icipa ed loan o g an a e lo in coming, o hen den ha e
ne pec ed financial p oblem and m appl fo loan a he la min e. The e b idge loan a e in ended onl o ide
den o e n il a mo e pe manen a angemen i e . Mo of he e loan need o be epaid i hin eek .
Credit for Education at
Foreign Institutions
Yo ma be a U.S. ci i en c en l li ing o ide he Uni ed S a e , o o ha e li ed o e pec o be li ing in ano he co n . If o ha e aken college
co e ab oad o a e in e e ed in doing o, he e a e e e al po en ial a o ecei e academic c edi in he Uni ed S a e fo o d ab oad.
American-Sponsored Stud
Abroad
Man Ame ican college and ni e i ie pon o d -ab oad p og am . Some
ill e en p e-app o e independen d ab oad.
Pa icipan in he e p og am can confi m in ad ance ha c edi he pa en in i ion a a d . P og am admini e ed b an acc edi ed Ame ican in i ion ill gene all be
ecogni ed b o he Ame ican in i ion .
Credit for Stud Abroad Not
Sponsored b an American
Institution
U i ed S a e i h e-a a f a A e ica i i i , i i e c ica ed ge c edi .
The e i ce a i ed a h i i he U i ed S a e f ec g i i f deg ee c ede ia
ecei ed ide he
c .
I i he ad i i g, hi i g, ice i g
i i i de e i e ec g i i f die c e ed ab ad.
Diffe e i i i ha e diffe e e i e e a d
ced e . If a ee c edi f c e deg ee ha e ac i ed ab ad, c he
i i i ga i a i i ed ab he ce a d i f a i i e i e . Ma i i i de e d
he ec e da i f c ede ia -e a a i g
e ice , i de e de ga i a i ha e ea ch a d c a e he g a
f f eig ch h e f A e ica ch .
U a he e ee i g he c edi a f a i de e de a a i f he deg ee c ede ia i
e i . C a , de e di g he c e i f he i e iga i .
The A e ica A cia i f C egia e Regi a a d
Ad i i (AACRA), f i a ce, cha ge a ba ic fee f $75 f i
services. In addition to filling out an application form, applicants must submit copies of all foreign educational records in their
original language (accompanied b a literal translation into English, signed b the translator, if the are in another language). You must submit pa ment with our application. AACRA does not accept personal checks, but ou can pa either b mone order or credit card.
