Pathways to Success: The Role of Postsecondary Career Education

Career Education Review

PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS: THE ROLE OF POSTSECONDARY CAREER EDUCATION

By Jenny Faubert, Vice President of Communications, Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU)

Over the past few years, confidence in traditional education has decreased, while there has been a surge in interest in career and trade institutions. Nontraditional and younger generations are interested in accelerating their career paths, preferring a more direct educational route. This trend is evident in the choice of over 1 million part-time and full-time students opting to attend for-profit career schools in the academic year 2022-23. The choice to enroll in career schools is driven by flexibility, accessibility, accelerated pathways, and robust student support services.

Diverse Student Body
Career schools offer a welcoming environment to underserved students including women, students of color, adult learners, veterans, those from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation students. Boasting a student population where 67% are students of color, 74% are adult learners, 66% are women, and 62% are first-generation students, for-profit career schools exhibit a remarkably diverse student body.

In most cases, career schools cater to a larger proportion of students of color than other sectors of higher education. At the four-year level 41% of students at a career school are Black or Hispanic, compared to 31% at public and 24% at nonprofit institutions. Similarly, at the two-year level, career schools enroll 53% of students who are Black or Hispanic, compared to 38% at public institutions and 50% at nonprofit institutions.

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