Topics to Ask Electrician Tech Schools<\/strong><\/h3>\nNow that you have made a decision to earn a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to narrow down your school options. Considering that there are numerous electrician vocational and trade schools in the Vienna VA region, it’s imperative to have a checklist of criteria that each program must meet. The first two that we discussed were location and the cost of tuition. If you have an interest in earning an online degree, then that needs to be a feature that your chosen school offers. And although all three qualifiers may be important when making your selection, there are additional variables that must be taken into account also. Following is a checklist of those added qualifications that you will need to analyze before choosing an electrical vocational school.<\/p>\n
Accreditation. <\/strong>Numerous electrician trade schools have acquired either a regional or a national accreditation. They can earn Institutional Accreditation, which involves the school’s programs as a whole, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to a specific program, such as electrical technology. Make sure that the Vienna VA program is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education approved accrediting organization, for example the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Along with helping make certain that you obtain an excellent education, it may assist in obtaining financial aid or student loans, which are often not available for non-accredited programs. Furthermore, some states require that the electrician training program be accredited in order to be approved for licensing.<\/p>\nHigh Completion and Placement Rates. <\/strong>Ask the electrician training programs you are considering what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the percentage of students who enroll in and finish the program. A low completion rate may signify that students were unhappy with the program and dropped out. It could also suggest that the instructors were not qualified to instruct the students. It’s also essential that the schools have higher job placement rates. Older and\/or more reputable schools may have a more extensive directory of alumni, which may result in more contacts for the school to use for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate will not only validate that the school has an excellent reputation within the trade, but additionally that it has the network of contacts to help Vienna VA graduates secure apprenticeships or jobs.<\/p>\nApprenticeship Programs. <\/strong>Most electrician technical programs are taught together with an apprenticeship or an internship program. Those participating vocational and technical schools will help place you in an apprenticeship program inside their network of electrician businesses or labor unions. Ask if the schools you are comparing have working partnerships with Vienna VA area electricians or electrical contractors. An apprenticeship not only provides a rewarding experience by furnishing hands-on training, but it also provides job opportunities and helps to build relationships in the area 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 working with on the job. If you are currently in an internship or an apprenticeship, talk to the electrical specialist you are working with regarding what you should be expecting. Otherwise, ask a local Vienna VA electrical contracting company if they can provide some pointers. Also bear in mind that unless you are willing to move, the school needs to be within driving distance of your Vienna 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 fees compared to in-state residents.<\/p>\nSmaller Classes. <\/strong>It’s important that you receive as much individualized training as possible, which can be challenging in bigger classes. Ask if you can sit in on a few of the classes so that you can observe how large they are and witness first hand the interaction between teachers and students. Talk with a few of the students and get their opinions regarding class sizes and instruction. Finally, talk with some of the teachers and find out what their level of expertise is and what certifications or degrees they hold.<\/p>\nFlexible Scheduling. <\/strong>Make sure that the class schedules for the schools you are assessing are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes in the evening or on weekends near Vienna VA, verify that the programs you are reviewing provide those choices. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, make sure that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Also, check out what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, sickness or family responsibilities.<\/p>\nConsidering Attending an Electrician School near Vienna VA?<\/h3>\n
Following is a little bit of background information about the Vienna VA area.<\/p>\n
Vienna, Virginia<\/h3>
Vienna (\/vi\u02c8\u025bn\u0259\/) is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687.[1] Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, and 22182) bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to the north, and Hunter Mill road to the west.<\/p>
In August 2013, CNNMoney and Money magazine ranked Vienna, VA third on its list of the 100 best places to live in the United States. In addition to highly ranked public schools,[4] its assets include a downtown with many small businesses, a Washington Metro station with large parking garages (the western terminus of the Orange Line) just south of the town, and a portion of the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park hiker\/biker trail cutting through the center of the town. Tysons Corner, a residential, commercial and shopping district, is nearby, as is Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.<\/p>
Non-native settlement in the region dates to ca. 1740. In 1754, prominent soldier and land owner Colonel Charles Broadwater settled within the town boundaries. Broadwater's son-in-law, John Hunter built the first recorded house there in 1767, naming it Ayr Hill (recalling his birthplace, Ayr, Scotland.) That name was subsequently applied to the tiny, developing community. The name of the town was changed in the 1850s, when a doctor named William Hendrick settled there on the condition that the town would rename itself after his hometown, Phelps, New York, then known as Vienna.[5]<\/p><\/div>\n