Selecting the right continuing education program requires self-reflection and research to ensure the program fits your educational goals. Many people have selected education programs they thought would achieve their life’s goal only to find out they were not suited for field they had entered. This is why it is extremely important to choose the right program to avoid wasting time and money.
When it comes to choosing the right continuing education program, there are many factors to consider just like free spins. These factors include: personality, learning style, interest, values, academic strength and weaknesses, and career goals. This is why self-reflection is critical to the process; any continuing education program must fit you – not the opposite.
Self-Reflection and Continuing Education
Deciding who you are, career objectives, and educational goals are important for success. Ask yourself the following questions:
- •What are your interests? – Answering this question helps focus your continuing education goals and objectives. Consider courses completed in college or high school you enjoyed. These are indicators of strong interest for reaching education goals. Select an educational program to fit a career field you will still be interested in many years later. Short term interest in a career field leads to self-motivation issues and eventually changing careers.
- •What are your academic strengths and weaknesses? – Understanding academic strengths and accepting weaknesses are important to success. Academic strengths are an indicator of potential career fields for which you are suited. Understanding academic weaknesses is critical for consideration in completing remedial courses, hiring a tutor, or extra study to ensure success in courses needed to meet educational goals.
Career Continuing Education Requirements
Researching continuing education requirements is critical to success. Ask yourself the following questions:
- •What are your education goals? – Deciding the type of degree you want to earn or need is important for establishing and meeting educational goals. In some cases only a certification in the field is needed, while other fields require at least a master’s degree for entry into the field. Researching education requirements will let you know if the career field meets you life’s education goals and objectives.
- •Have you researched continuing education requirements for your current or potential career field? – Some career fields have continuous education requirements to remain certified or licensed, such as: health care, dentistry, public works, education, etc. Understanding continuing education requirements for your career or potential career field is critical in forming a continuing education plan. Read Creating a Continuing Education Action Plan to discover how to develop a plan for completing continuing education.
Researching Continuing Education Organizations
After completing a self-reflection and researching education requirements for a current or potential career field; research education organizations to find which one meets your needs. For example:
- •Complete online research about a potential technical school, community college, college, or university.
- •Call an education organization’s admissions office and request program information, also request a tour. There is nothing like visiting an education organization to gain a sense of the school’s atmosphere and location. Find out faculty to student ratio, dropout rate, and graduation rate in the desired program.
- •Research the organization’s financial options, available grants, and potential scholarships. Be sure to complete an online Free Application for Student Federal Aid (FASFA) and submit school codes for potential education organizations you will attend.
Using the above as a guide for choosing the right continuing education program will help you decide the best approach to take when embarking on the continuing education path. Some adults are hesitant about going back to because they fill they will not fit in.
Creating a Continuing Education Action Plan
The longer you have been out of college the more preparation needed. If it has been 10 years or more, the greater the technological shock experienced. Although the teaching and learning process is still the same, the difference is in delivery and communication.
Delivery may integrate various levels of technology, from the professor websites to course management sites, such as Blackboard. Professors communicate through e-mail, bulletin boards, and listservs. Course registration and fee payment are online today.
Do not be surprised if a college does not accept transfer credits for courses you completed more than 10 years ago. Chances are you do not remember what you learned and considering the advances in knowledge and technology, you will be glad you had to retake the courses.
These important facts lead to the reason for developing a continuing education action plan. Giving yourself time to research the type of program interested in completing and what specific attributes needed to achieve your goals are important to continuing education success. The more preparatory work completed in advance, the more likely the continuing education experience will go smoothly.
Regardless of how the action plan is recorded, a yellow legal pad or spreadsheet, preparation is the key to success. It is important to use a format that you are comfortable with and makes sense to you. Outlining what you need to accomplish and prioritization steps in the action plan are recommended to keep the plan focused.
Continuing Education Action Plan
The following are the minimum recommended steps for any continuing education action plan:
- •Make a list of all transcripts and letters of recommendation you need to gather; record contact information for these credentials. These will be needed for forwarding to the college you have selected.
- •Develop a chronological timetable of dates for completing specifics steps, such as: dates for completing research of specific colleges and programs, dates for visiting college campuses, dates for application deadlines, dates for financial aid deadlines, etc.
- •Visit your human resources manager to determine if the company will pay some or all tuition.
- •After narrowing college choices, find out everything you can about the college and desired program, such as: course times and how often they are offered (all courses are not offered every semester), convenience of course times, is the college adult friendly, meet with program chair or attend program open houses, etc.
- •Research admission and placement test (writing, math, etc.) polices for colleges you are considering.
- •Set up a time to visit student services or continuing education student services to determine how supportive they are for adult students.
- •Meet with financial aid office to determine what financial assistance you are eligible (do not forget complete and submit a FASFA by required deadlines).
- •Find out exactly how many credit hours you will need to complete the desired program. It is important to get this in writing from the program advisor and registrar’s office to avoid surprises later.
- •Determine if you can test out of courses for credit, based on life and work experiences.
- •Determine what technological tools you will need for the program, such as: computer requirements, software requirements, etc.
Along with the basic steps listed above, add any other steps which are unique to your situation. Once a continuing education action plan is developed and followed, you will find returning to college is much easier and will lead to a greater chance of success.
