What are Career Colleges? - OACC

What Are Career Colleges?

Career colleges are private (both for-profit and not-for-profit) post-secondary institutions that provide career specific, outcome based programs. Graduates of career colleges can earn a diploma or certificate. Career colleges graduate about 46,000 students annually in the province of Ontario alone!

What Makes Career Colleges Different?

The educational focus of career colleges is on meeting student need and providing career specific training. The range of programming that a career college offers is as general as business, health care and technology to as specific as travel and welding. Despite the wide variety of programs available, career colleges are unified by the characteristics that set the sector apart:

• Small class sizes,
• Intensive training with short duration
• Flexible timetabling
• Multiple intakes throughout the year

Who Are Career College Students?

Like the career colleges themselves, the types of students who choose to attend a career college is quite diverse. While some students enter a career college directly out of high school - the average age is approximately 27 - roughly 30% are over the age of 35 and 40% have previously attended a university or community college.

Students use a variety of options to fund their course of study including personal funds, Employment Insurance (EI) funds, WSIB sponsorship, or government-sponsored student loans (OSAP)

Why Choose A Career College?

The demand for highly skilled employees is on the rise. Employers, more so than ever, are demanding that new graduates have obtained the skills necessary during their training. 

The specific outcome-based nature of the training offered by career colleges ensures that graduates are "job ready" upon graduation.

The nature of work today is constantly changing and growing; so too are the needs of employers. Given the inherent flexibility of the career college sector, it is able to adapt quickly and efficiently to the shifting landscape of the career environment.

Hence, career colleges not only meet the flexibility needs of the student but are also constantly changing to reflect the demands of the employer and marketplace.