Welcome to the launch of the Beckfield College blogs. As an active member of the Greater Cincinnati community providing educational opportunities to individuals while supplying needed talent for area businesses, we want to extend our information arm to you.
The beginning of this decade marks an unprecedented time for all of us – a global economy slow to regain strength while unemployment is at its highest in decades. I believe the road to recovery for all of us starts with education. According to a
report from the National Governor’s Association released last month, “Nearly 75 percent of future jobs will require a postsecondary degree or certificate, and many of these job openings will be in middle-skill professions that require more than a high school degree but less than a four-year college degree.”
Post-secondary education comes in a variety of formats, all with merit and fulfillment of meeting students’ varied needs. We believe that the career college format fills a niche in high demand. Many high school graduates and non-traditional college students need a smaller, more personalized approach to education. These students may have jobs, children, cultural challenges, or diverse foundations that make the traditional path too challenging. Career colleges have built themselves around these students’ needs while focusing on a future with hope and stability. As a result, “students who attend for-profit colleges have comparable and often higher retention and graduation rates than those at other institutions,” according to the findings of a study released this month by the
Imagine America Foundation. Career colleges are one piece of the complicated education puzzle, but we feel it’s a vital one. Beckfield College will utilize our blogging outreach to keep our community informed about the unique role that career colleges play. Our Health Care Education Blog will dialogue about the local perspective regarding nursing, medical technician areas of specialty and other allied health sciences that impact our community. Our Professional Academic Fields Blog will explore the changes and updates in business and professional fields of education as they relate to Greater Cincinnati. Our final blog, the Value of Post-Secondary Education, will offer insight into the value and changes in this important field of education.
In the words of one of our recent nursing graduates raving about her new job, she wrote to her dean, “Thank you all so much. I’m grateful for the education I had. I’m driven, but you all encouraged me, taught me and really pulled for me to succeed.” This is why I’m proud to say I’m a president of a career college.
Author: Diane Wolfer, President, Beckfield College