Questions to Ask Electrician Tech Schools<\/strong><\/h3>\nWhen you have made a decision to earn a certificate, diploma or degree, you can start to focus your school options. Because there are numerous electrician trade and vocational schools in the Fairfax VA area, it’s important to have a checklist of criteria that each school must satisfy. The first two that we mentioned were location and the cost of tuition. If you are interested in earning an degree online, then that must be an option that your final school offers. And while all three qualifiers may be important when making your determination, there are additional factors that must be considered also. Below is a checklist of those additional qualifiers that you will need to assess prior to choosing an electrical vocational school.<\/p>\n
Accreditation. <\/strong>Numerous electrician vocational schools have earned either a regional or a national accreditation. They can attain Institutional Accreditation, which focuses on the school’s programs overall, or Programmatic Accreditation, which relates to a specific program, such as electrical technology. Verify that the Fairfax VA school is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, for example the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. In addition to helping make certain that you obtain an excellent education, it can assist in obtaining financial aid or student loans, which are in many cases not available for non-accredited programs. Furthermore, a number of states mandate that the electrician training course be accredited in order to qualify for licensing.<\/p>\nHigh Completion and Placement Rates. <\/strong>Ask the electrician schools you are looking at what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the percentage or portion of students who enroll in and complete the course. A lower completion rate might suggest that students were dissatisfied with the course and quit. It could also mean that the instructors were not qualified to train the students. It’s similarly essential that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and\/or more reputable schools may have a broader directory of alumni, which may mean more contacts for the school to employ for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate will not only validate that the school has a good reputation within the trade, but additionally that it has the network of contacts to assist Fairfax VA grads obtain apprenticeships or employment.<\/p>\nApprenticeship Programs. <\/strong>A large number of electrician trade programs are taught together with an internship or an apprenticeship program. Those participating trade and vocational schools will help place you in an apprenticeship program within their network of electrician businesses or labor unions. Find out if the schools you are comparing have working relationships with Fairfax VA area electricians or electrical contractors. An apprenticeship not only provides a rewarding experience by furnishing practical training, but it also supplies employment opportunities and helps to build relationships in the regional electrician professional community.<\/p>\nModern Facilities. <\/strong>Confirm that the campus facilities and the equipment that you will be instructed on are state-of-the-art and what you will be using on the job. If you are already in an internship or an apprenticeship, talk to the electrical tech you are working under concerning what you should be expecting. Otherwise, ask a local Fairfax VA electrical contracting company if they can provide some suggestions. Additionally keep in mind that unless you are able to move, the school must be within commuting distance of your Fairfax residence. Take note that if you decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, in addition to relocation costs there can be higher tuition charges compared to in-state residents.<\/p>\nSmaller Classes. <\/strong>It’s desirable that you get as much personalized training as possible, which can be challenging in larger classes. Ask if you can sit in on a few of the classes so that you can see how big they are and experience the interaction between students and instructors. Speak with some of the students and get their opinions concerning class sizes and instruction. Last, talk to a few of the instructors and learn what their level of experience is and what certifications or degrees they have earned.<\/p>\nFlexible Scheduling. <\/strong>Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to handle your needs. If you can only attend classes at night or on weekends near Fairfax VA, check that the schools you are reviewing offer those options. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, make certain that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Finally, ask what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, illness or family issues.<\/p>\nConsidering Attending an Electrician School near Fairfax VA?<\/h3>\n
Following is a little bit of background information about the Fairfax VA area.<\/p>\n
Fairfax, Virginia<\/h3>
Fairfax (\/\u02c8f\u025b\u0259r.f\u00e6ks\/ FAIR-faks), colloquially known as Central Fairfax, Downtown Fairfax, or Fairfax City, and officially named the City of Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.[3] As of the 2010 census the population was 22,565,[4] which had risen to an estimated 24,013 as of 2015.[5]<\/p>
The city of Fairfax is an enclave within the separate political entity Fairfax County. The city of Fairfax and the area immediately surrounding the historical border of the city of Fairfax, collectively designated by Fairfax County as \"Fairfax\", comprise the county seat of Fairfax County. The city is part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as a part of Northern Virginia. The city is 17 miles (27\u00a0km) west of Washington, D.C. The Washington Metro's Orange Line serves Fairfax through its Vienna station, which is a mile northeast of the city limits. CUE Bus and Metrobus operate in Fairfax. Virginia Railway Express's Burke Centre station is situated three miles southeast of the city's boundaries. Virginia's largest public educational institution with 33,917 students in 2013 is George Mason University, which is located in unincorporated Fairfax County, along the city's southern border.<\/p>
The city derives its name from Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who was awarded 5,000,000 acres (20,000\u00a0km2) of land in northern Virginia by King Charles.[6] The area that the city now encompasses was settled in the early 18th century by farmers from Virginia's Tidewater region.[7] The town of \"Providence\" was established on the site by an act of the state legislature in 1805.[8]<\/p><\/div>\n