COALITION CAREER SCHOOLS – THE RIGHT CHOICE, JUST IN TIME
In our present economic climate, post-secondary career training is critical to renewing New York State and the nation. The more than one hundred schools of the Coalition of New York State Career Schools are committed to training their students and getting them employed in jobs with career paths. We change lives through training excellence. Our schools adhere to the highest standards. Our members’ teachers are licensed, curriculums are approved, facilities are inspected, and student satisfaction is paramount. Most of all, our schools are intimately meshed with the business community, developing programs to meet the economy’s changing needs.
THE MISSION
Career schools provide targeted training for jobs that are in demand. Our schools thrive because our students acquire knowledge and learn skills that are immediately applicable to the workplace. Our schools’ placement staffs link students to viable job prospects and have a proven track record of getting students into the workforce.
Now more than ever, career schools can help put hope back into a family. An article in the New York Times profiling unemployed auto workers noted that they were “seeking to reboot their lives studying welding, nursing, cooking, and other fields.” (NYT, February 12, 2009). This is where our schools make the difference.
WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH
Privately owned and operated career schools can only succeed if their students prosper. Our schools depend on positive word of mouth advertising to bring in new students. This means that we are results-driven, in other words — graduation and placement driven. Official data maintained at the New York State Office of Education Data Statistics proves this. Many schools show completion rates of 75% or greater and placement rates of 75% or greater in fields related to the training — outstanding results that demonstrate the effectiveness of our schools’ training. It is good business and solid education to use best efforts to retain every student possible and help them achieve success.
WHO WE SERVE
Our schools serve several populations — young people coming out of high school who want fast, hand-on training to get started in a career before going to college; others who want to move into a specific career ladder with a specialized skill or trade; mid-life career changers; and those without high school diplomas, but who have the ability to excel in a particular career path. Our success with non-traditional students is a product of the care and attention they receive from our schools’ administrative staff and faculty. We are proud that our schools have helped bring thousands upon thousands of people into the workforce that may never have had any other chance to make it.
LICENSED, SELF-SUPPORTING
Our schools are all licensed by the New York State Education Department (“SED”) and meet stringent requirements in NYS laws and regulations. Each school is assessed one-half of one percent of all tuition income to support SED’s oversight, inspections and operations. No NYS general fund dollars are used for this purpose, making our sector of higher education completely self-supporting, with no negative budget impact on the state. Also, most of the schools in the Coalition pay corporate tax to the State of New York, local taxes, as well as providing employment for school professionals across the state.
QUALITY-DRIVEN
As a way to ensure high quality standards, the Coalition has implemented a Mystery Shopping program that checks the performance of Admissions personnel and others at member schools. We run a successful Teacher Training program offering several thirty hour courses in methods education for teaching staff with over four hundred teachers participating each year. We host a Career School Convention annually that brings together career education leaders, speakers, and service providers from across the country.