Many students are spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding what to do next after high school. They could either take a gap year to relax, start a business or further their education by studying abroad. But studying abroad comes with a very important question for many of these international students. Should you enrol in a higher educational institution or learn a specialised skill through vocational education?
The answer depends on what you desire as a student and the career path you want to take. But before getting ahead of yourself, surely you want to know what vocational education is and how it differs from higher education right? Let's start there.
Vocational education and training (VET) is a specific type of course that trains you to have the skills and knowledge needed to work in a particular field. A majority of this course will be spent in a simulated work environment with a focus on practicality and job placements. VET courses include Certificates I to IV, diplomas, advanced diplomas and graduate diplomas.
This is quite different from higher education which is mostly theory-based learning. Higher education normally includes bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctoral degrees. The key difference between these two courses depends on the career path you want to take. But now that you know how to differentiate between VET and Higher Education, here are the important questions you need to answer to make the right decisions.
Do you want to become a doctor, a lawyer or maybe an engineer? All these are courses that require a degree for you to learn and practice once you graduate. Essentially, there are jobs that you can only get if you have a university degree and these courses tend to have more of an academic focus. So an international student like yourself will have to study for 3-6 years course (depending on the course) in a university.
However, VET courses prepare you with the practical skills you need for certain industries and roles that don’t need university degrees to get hired. These are courses like an Automotive Mechanic, Chef or Cook, Hospitality Manager, Accountant, IT Technician etc. For example, if you want to learn to be an IT Tech, you will spend less time in the classroom and more time working on actual computers, networks etc to learn the skills needed to perform at an optimal level in this position.
In some cases, you can find a course in VET and university degrees. An example of this is Hospitality. A vocational qualification and university degree will enable you to perform practical tasks such as cooking and serving food and more complex roles like management.
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There’s no denying this, VET courses are much shorter than higher education degrees. A typical VET course will take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, depending on the course.
Meanwhile, a university degree usually ranges between 3 to 5 years. However, more in-depth and technical courses like medicine, engineering, architecture and law to name a few usually take 5-6 years. This is a decision you can only make yourself.
Here’s something that would come as a surprise to many international students; in most VET courses, you don’t have to write any exams. Because these are practical courses focused on teaching you the skills you need to get the job done, to pass the class you simply have to show that you actually paid attention during training. For example, an automotive student simply has to show they can change the tyre or clean the throttle body.
But in universities, to graduate, you have to go through graded quizzes, tests and exams. Choosing one over the other isn’t so quite clear-cut. Some university degrees also have practical exams in place of written tests and quizzes.
University degrees are more expensive than VET courses simply by the duration and speciality of the courses. University degrees also come with minor subjects like Maths, English and other classes along with your major discipline. Meaning international students taking university degrees have to study more than just the course they want to learn thereby increasing their tuition.
VET courses are less expensive simply because they are specialised and are completed in less time compared to university degrees. And in most cases, you won’t have to learn minor subjects along with your majors. As a result, the tuition fees are more affordable.
Please note that affordability doesn’t mean your certificate isn’t effective, far from it. In fact, most employers today prefer employees to have prior work or hands-on experience before getting hired and this is where VET courses come into play.
Deciding whether to go with a university degree or a VET diploma is a tough choice only you can make. But if you’re still finding it hard to choose or need further clarifications on both VETs and higher education, we have your back.
Schedule a free consultation with our experts and we’ll make sure you pick what’s right for you and your future.