24 Jul 2017

Choosing where to study after school has never been harder. While uni is getting more and more popular, it’s currently taking the average uni graduate over four years to find employment in their industry. So naturally, many of us are looking for alternative options. Enter private colleges. These guys offer a mixture of higher education courses (bachelor degrees and post grad degrees) and VET courses (diplomas and certificates) in a massive range of industries. So, how do they stack up against university?

Course Structure

While university is the best choice if you want to be a doctor, lawyer or rocket scientist, you should definitely look into private college for any career paths that don’t absolutely require a uni degree. One of the biggest benefits of private college is that they usually specialise in a certain field. This means their courses a more refined and tailored to your career path, and everything you’re learning is super relevant to what you want to do.

On the other hand, university courses tend to be broader and lend themselves to a wider range of career paths. This can be good if you’ve got no idea what you want to do with your life, but a little frustrating if you have to complete subjects that aren’t totally relevant to your career goals.

Classes

Private college classes are generally much smaller, with a more intimate setting and more personalised training. You’ll likely be getting more attention from your teachers, and your classes will be filled with a lot of like-minded people on the same career path as you (so there’s always someone to help with assignments).

University classes are much larger; in lectures, you could literally be one of hundreds of students. It’s a less personalised way of learning, but it suits those of us who are self-motivated and prefer to muddle through our studies on our own.

Length

University courses generally last between three and five years in length, depending on what you’re looking at studying. Because private college courses are more specific, they’re usually able to condense their teachings into shorter time frames. Different courses vary in length and could sit anywhere between a few months and three years, but you can pretty much guarantee a private college course will be shorter than its university equivalent.

Cost

Cost will vary a lot depending on what kind of course you’re looking at, no matter whether it’s at a private college or university, so you’ll have to make your own comparisons and decide what’s right for you.

When you’re weighing up the cost, just remember to consider how much value you’re going to be getting out of the course. While some courses may cost a lil’ more, they might actually provide you with more practical experience and skills, and ultimately make you more employable in the long run (so you’ll be making your money back faster anyway).

Employability

Because so many people now attend university, uni students are finding it increasingly more difficult to find work in their field of study after they graduate. Many employers believe that uni students are graduating without any practical skills or experience, and are opting for candidates with previous work history over a uni degree.

Private colleges are usually far more practical and focus on ensuring their students are job-ready when they graduate. They’re better at prepping their students by helping build up their portfolios/showcases/resumes, and they facilitate networking opportunities with industry contacts so students can graduate with a list of connections.

Ultimately it’s up to you where you want to study. Just remember that the traditional pathway isn’t always necessarily the right one, and that there are some amazing alternatives out there. So make sure to sus out all of your options!