Education Options

Check out some post high school options for education.

Four-year College or University

Four or five years full-time, or part-time equivalent at a college or university will earn you a Bachelor's Degree in your major. There are a few different kinds such as a B.A., a bachelor of arts and B.S., which is a bachelor of science.

Trade/Vocational Schools

These are secondary schools (schools following high school) that teach different skilled trades. Examples of trade school fields are accounting, computer science, horse shoeing, drafting and architecture, electronics and computer repair, telecommunications, midwifery, information technology, EMT/Paramedics, stenography, etc. Graduate with a certificate or diploma.

Community College

Community college is a 100-year old American creation that puts publicly funded schools of higher education in areas closer to home. They are affordable schools that award Associate's Degrees (two years of study is equivalent to two years of four-year college or university study. Many transfer to four-year universities to complete their Bachelor's Degrees).

Graduate School

The most commonly sought after grad school degrees immediately following college are M.D.'s (Medical Doctor) from medical schools and J.D.'s (Juris Doctor) from law school. Most other post-college degrees are called Master's Degrees. Those programs usually take between two and seven years to complete, depending on the area of study. There are hundreds of Master's Degrees that people pursue in hopes of advancing their careers. There are many Master's programs you may have never even thought of, like Decorative Arts, Forestry, and Museum Studies to name a few.

Sometimes people opt to go for a PhD instead of a Master's Degree. Others, after already earning Master's Degrees, continue their studies to get PhD's. A PhD is the highest degree awarded by graduate schools. There's a joke that claims PhD stands for Patiently hoping for a Degree, making a crack at the often-difficult task of reaching this benchmark. In actuality, PhD stands for Philosophiae Doctor or Doctor of Philosophy. A PhD is awarded after no less than three years of graduate study and a dissertation, which is a lengthy, formal thesis paper that takes some students years to complete. Once someone earns a PhD, s/he can call herself a doctor.