The secret is out. Career and vocational colleges offer an affordable alternative to four-year universities and colleges. These educational paths also offer a streamlined education to employment pipeline, with instructors who are also field professionals and skills training directly applicable to the workforce students will soon enter. It’s not just US nationals who are making the educational shift.
20 percent of all international students in the United States attend career and vocational colleges, as of the 2022 school year. An additional benefit for international students is the quick transition from school to workforce, which aligns with visa requirements to stay in the country. These schools also carry less stringent US language requirements and accommodate nontraditional schedules.
The main problem international students run into when it comes to career and vocational college enrollment is the enrollment process itself. While traditional four-year colleges and universities have departments dedicated to helping international students navigate admissions requirements and procedures, career and vocational colleges still largely lack these resources. CCI TheDegreePeople.com conducted an informal online survey that discovered international students continue to face hurdles in navigating admissions for career and vocational colleges in the United States, even though the rate of enrollment continues to grow.
What do international students need to qualify?
The short answer is a high school diploma or GED. The long answer is it depends on the structure of the educational system of the country of origin. For some countries, this is a secondary education certificate or passing a government mandated exam. In every case, international students have to explain the value of their foreign education in terms of US academic value as part of the admissions process to show the equivalency of a US high school diploma or GED. This can get confusing, especially in tandem with cultural and language barriers.
“I founded this business to help those born outside of the US get educated here. I am a first generation American and big supporter of the career and vocational college experience. It was my mother’s dream,” Sheila Danzig, founder and director of CCI TheDegreePeople.com, a premier credential evaluating agency explains.
International students need to provide credential evaluations of their foreign secondary education credentials or government exam results. CCI TheDegreePeople.com evaluates each credential uniquely to clearly show admissions departments the academic value of foreign secondary education credentials in terms of US academic value to prove admissions eligibility for career and vocational colleges. This evaluation is delivered in the form of a PDF directly to the college official handling international student admissions, and offers no charge rush delivery options. As international student body admissions grow in these institutions, they face a learning curve that requires guidance. In addition to providing evaluations, CCI TheDegreePeople.com works directly with admissions departments, being available to answer questions, provide guidance, and troubleshoot.
“We understand the vital role career and community colleges play in the US education system,” says Danzig. “Many schools have told us that their international student enrollment has grown because CCI has made the admission process student friendly.”
For more information on how CCI TheDegreePeople.com can improve the admissions process for your international students contact Shelia Danzig via email at [email protected] or at 1.800.771.4723.