University versus Vocational Education

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University vs. Vocational Education.

Education has always been a major problem for both high school graduates and people willing to improve their qualification for a better job. Though there are many other reasons why people care about education, this fact does not undermine the whole importance of it. If after graduating from a high school, a person thinks of continuing his or her education, the most common idea might be to apply to university. Although, that is not the only possible solution, as there are other alternatives, for instance, vocational education. As given by Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, vocational education is “training for a specific occupation in agriculture, trade, or industry through a combination of theoretical teaching and practical experience” (Merriam-Webster.com, 2014). In other words, vocational education is a way of education targeted at the specific occupation in mainly technical fields. Comparing university, or general, education to vocational education, one may find various advantages of one of the education types over the other. This paper goes over some of the differences between the above-mentioned education types.
Being a usual first choice for many prospective students, general education requires on average from three to five years of studies that result in university diploma in a chosen major. Compared to vocational studies, universities usually have a higher variety of different majors, ranging from humanities to natural sciences. That gives students a better chance to decide on what to spend their lifetime on, since it is relatively easy to switch majors, especially in the first years of studying at the university. In contrast, vocational courses usually last less time-wise, provide sam...

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