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Hello everyone,
I’m a veteran and I’m just now settling on a career path after 5 years being out. Time to spend that GI bill but the question becomes where. The question is beat to death across forums, tech school or community college? Out here in Southern California, that means UTI as far as a tech school is concerned. Most of the negative comments are on the expense and time but neither of these effect me and I can’t find anything recent about Veterans in a tech school program here. So, given no worries about cost or time commitment, does someplace like UTI become worth it?
Thank you for anyone who responds, all the help is appreciated.
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[quote=”Mcmicale” post=179185]Hello everyone,
I’m a veteran and I’m just now settling on a career path after 5 years being out. Time to spend that GI bill but the question becomes where. The question is beat to death across forums, tech school or community college? Out here in Southern California, that means UTI as far as a tech school is concerned. Most of the negative comments are on the expense and time but neither of these effect me and I can’t find anything recent about Veterans in a tech school program here. So, given no worries about cost or time commitment, does someplace like UTI become worth it?
Thank you for anyone who responds, all the help is appreciated.[/quote]Welcome to the forum. I will move this to the proper forum.
UTI is a big for-profit and I’m not sure if they are that good as they are advertised. I don’t think they offer an actual college degree. Actually I would look into the technicial colleges and make sure they are ASE/NATEF certified/accredited. I would shoot for one that you can get at least an Associated Degree in and Applied Science.degree. There is even a school offering a BA in Automotive Technology.
School IS NOT a waste. No, it won’t make you a tech off the line, but having a degree or at least a diploma/schooling opens doors and will help you down the line. Those guys that say “we aint’ need no stinkin schoolin”, maybe you don’t see the cracks now, but when you get higher in the field you’ll see that most of them are not that great. Watch them write a paragraph or even a sentence. Listen to their general knowledge about things in the world. Heck, just listen to them speak! Anyone who tells you that education is a waste, is a waste.
At a minimum, go to a dealership where they will put you through training. Having school prior will get you along much faster. The best technicians even in the independent shops you’ll find came from the dealers.
I’m not an automotive tech, so I can’t say which is best for you.
I when to a smaller university and got a BSEET (Electronics Engineering Technology) degree which got me in some doors. I have worked for some of the largest defense contractors like Unisys, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, but it is up to you on how you use your degree. I also took the welding classes at Lincoln Tech. The school is expensive, but you get allot of hands on lab time. One of the instructors made a good point that what you lean in the one year class, may take you 5+ years trying to learn on your own and you may not even know where your skills have gaps that are overlooked. I had seen the automotive program working with several manufacturers and dealerships to help place their graduates.
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