There are literally hundreds of options for your education. It?s not surprising that when you?re in the market for a quality school, things tend to get as confusing as choosing the best payment plan on a new car.

Recognizing social and educational trends is a good place to start.

Since 1998, the Department of Education has been tracking trends that are transforming education in America today. In their latest report, they have identified three key issues that will affect you if your wish is to obtain secondary or continuing education in the near future.

? Schools are encountering the “millennium generation” and need to educate a record 53 million young people.

There is a bit of a dilemma in the education sector as highly qualified computer, science and technology teachers are already in short supply. This is because high-tech and telecommunications companies are luring talented prospects away from teaching jobs by offering higher salaries and other incentives.

Private technical colleges have begun to respond to this negative trend by competing with incentives of their own, especially in the computer and telecommunications markets. Because of this, the quality of private technical education has been improving.

? Knowledge and the earnings gap both continue to explode ? Americans who enter secondary education programs now make 76 percent more than high school graduates in their lifetimes.

Translated, does this mean that everyone must graduate from college to compete successfully in the job market, regardless of their interests or talents? No.
In fact, one of the most surprising trends of the last few years has been the rising demand for specifically qualified technicians in expanding fields like healthcare, telecommunications and information technology. But technical education and degrees will help. Why is this? We are transitioning into a ?knowledge-based global economy.?

The 2020 Commission on the Future of Post-Secondary Education observed that in a ?knowledge-based global economy,? secondary and technical education will become all the more important. People who attain only a high school degree will be confined to a lower earning bracket behind those who choose more education.

As was mentioned in the first key issue ? the benefits of getting focused technical training are getting better all the time since private institutions are hiring more qualified teachers. These qualified instructors are teaching more programs that are aimed at the knowledge-based markets, which many times don?t require a traditional four-year degree.

? Due to the nation?s growing diversity, the makeup of the classroom is requiring teachers to broaden their skills.

For those who want to increase their employment opportunities in the coming years, learning a critical language, such as Spanish, Japanese or Chinese, will increase their marketability and professional demand by a wide margin. Going forward, companies will focus on hiring more multilingual people who can communicate with clients and customers who don’t speak or understand English.

The years of relative isolation from foreign cultures in U.S. classrooms and the workplace are numbered. Will you be ready to ride this wave of change?

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