The changing ABCs of vocational education.

• Author: Brynko, B.L.
• Position: Includes related article

Strong demand for new technical skills and constant change in many trades and professions create opportunities for Alaska's proprietary vocational training centers.

Alaska's vocational schools, like their counterparts in the Lower 48, have been trying to rid themselves of a stigma that has plagued them for years. Dispelling myths about technical schools' quality of education has been just as difficult as mending the industry's reputation for matchbook-cover marketing and occasional tuition scandals.

But today, many jobs are relying more and more on high-tech skills. The increased demand for specialized career training that a vocational school can provide is helping to add new shine to tarnished images.

"Between 60 percent and 85 percent of the work force is technically trained," points out Jennifer Deitz, president of The Travel Academy of Anchorage and of the trade organization Alaska Association of Private Career Educators. "Take a look around you at who you deal with on a daily basis -- your auto mechanic, your dental hygienist, your VCR or TV repairman, your hair stylist, your travel agent. These are all professional people who have been intensely trained for specific professional jobs."

Overall, the vocational education industry in Alaska is healthy, according to reports from schools across the state. Alaska's 55 proprietary schools, or for-profit career education schools, offer classroom and hands-on training for about 2,000 Alaskans annually in disciplines ranging from hair styling to asbestos removal as well as plenty of accounting and computer skills training.

In general, enrollments are climbing. Other bright spots are the availability of plenty of qualified teachers to staff the schools and of Alaska student loans and federal funding to finance educations. In the evolving field of vocational education, constant curriculum modifications are required to reflect changes in the corresponding industry, and schools must provide up-to-date equipment to prepare students properly and to remain competitive.

For those vocational schools that turn out consistently qualified workers, the rewards are many. Alaskan companies that have hired vocational graduates in the past, usually come back to the same school to fill openings, says Deitz, whose Travel Academy trains about 400 people a year for travel-industry careers ranging from aircraft dispatchers to resort management.

A good placement record also helps schools market their course offerings to students. With the job market as tight as it is, job contenders need every possible advantage to give them winning edges.

Not everyone is geared for college, says Jerry Lewis, executive director of the Governor's Council on Vocational Education. "Recent statistics point out that only about 30 percent of high school graduates go on to a university. That leaves 70 percent ready for work or for training programs. With odds like that, we have to supply a vocational track as well as an academic track for those who want it," he explains.

Educational visionary John Gardner, secretary of education during the Eisenhower administration, once said that the society that does not pay equal attention to the plumber and the philosopher will soon find that neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.

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