Free College for "blue collar" kids

[beezapilot]

I apologize in advance. I post this towards the end of most every school year on several of the forums that I participate in. So much talk about education without jobs and what not. Fact is tradesmen (and women) are getting a little rare in this country of ours.

I've had stock in this company for just about 30 years. They are having a hard time finding job applicants with the skills needed to keep the gears turning, so now offer a technical academy. SO if you have a kid, or grandkid that likes working with their hands... and doesn't mind WORKING. This company will pay tuition, a little wage while you are in class, will help you move to the campus, and all you have to do is maintain a 3.0 GPA. Then, if you've cut it, they will give you a job, with very good pay and benefits.

http://www.nucor.com/careers/academy/

[akajun]

Tried to dig around, couldn't find the info, what trades/ degrees are they teaching?

[Wayne Smith]

The Newport News Shipyard started with an apprenticeship program years ago - and now has a college (with a football team, no less!) with a work-study program. School half the day, on the job the other half working with the experts on the job.

[beezapilot]

A 3 year "Applied Science" Degree. They are training for maintenance positions in the steel mills, electro/ mechanical / hydraulic engineering.

When my ship was at Lockheed shipyard in Seattle the bus I rode passed this mill and I was always hoping that I would see a pour as we went by, amazing stuff! I've chatted with one of our members that works at this mill today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC9ErYWAxzU

And one for the Rock and Rollers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hnXMI_LK7k

[birch]

It is sad how hard college is pushed in schools. I am all for higher education, but I do not feel every kid should go to the university setting. I have a feeling we will see a surge in trade school programs over traditional college courses in the future--i hope.

[RMc]

Remember, high schools were originally designed to be an educational terminus point for future factory workers. Indeed, high school credits are still referred to as Carnegie Credits after the 19th century industrialist who supported the then new educational concept.

[waarp8nt]

What!?! I have to get a job....The Disney channel said I was going to be a Prince some day?

Seriously...a good post, sounds like a great idea! Good for the student and the manufacture. Just wish I was younger...lol!

[RU shooter]

This year I got my son a entry level job in the fab shop I work in we actually do a lot of work for Nucor / vulcraft . They are a very diverse company for certain . I'm gonna show my son that link and strongly encourage his 19 yr old butt to apply !!!! I'd love to get a job there too but I only have another 15 maybe 20 yrs of hard work left in me doing production and don't think I could handle another relocation . Great opportunity for a young man or woman that's willing to work for it .

[Ken in Iowa]

Our local community college has come a long way in applied sciences in manufacturing and building trades. I was on the advisory board and stood in as an instructor for one quarter. Great experience for me as an old geezer.

[Houndog]

I hear more and more "college educated" grads with useless degrees in some nonsense study complaining about winding up with some dead job. Skilled trades are begging for trainees and employers are footing the bill in many cases to get those grads. Lots of trucking companies are now paying to train drivers with a job waiting upon graduation that pays 65 K a year starting wage that goes up with experience and yet they go begging for drivers. Truck driving isn't a showy job and it's hard work but it's stable and wages are lots better than run of the mill jobs pay.

[ACrowe25]

^ you have no idea. I live in a college town and they are abundant. 100k in student load debt having to wait tables because their less than applicable degree didn't pan out.

[Frosty Boolit]

I've long thought the electrical grid will provide many high paying trade jobs in the future.

[gatortommy]

Need more in the building trades. Thanks for the link.

[dragon813gt]

Building trades are begging for workers but driving them away at the same time. The HVAC industry is going to kill itself if the owners don't get their act together. Consolidation by large companies that focus of sales over repairs is not helping matters either. Not sure how the next few decades will pan out. But it's hard to keep people when you demand six days a week at a low starting wage and minimal pay increases unless you switch companies.

[shoot-n-lead]

Building trades are begging for workers but driving them away at the same time. The HVAC industry is going to kill itself if the owners don't get their act together. Consolidation by large companies that focus of sales over repairs is not helping matters either. Not sure how the next few decades will pan out. But it's hard to keep people when you demand six days a week at a low starting wage and minimal pay increases unless you switch companies.

X 2

This is going on big time around here. But, I have a friend that has his business setup to concentrate on maintenance...he does very well.

[country gent]

For 35 years I was a tool and die maker. The trade did very well for me also My Dad and Grandfather. Our local Vocational school has done away twith the machine trades, welding and machinanry repair classes several years ago.Yet almosrt every manufacturer in the area is looking for them

[dragon813gt]

Those are all college level classes now. They weren't an option when I was in school in the late nineties. Wood and metal shop disappeared a few years after I graduated. It's a shame because I spent a lot of time after school was over in the wood shop.

[CIC]

I don't believe there is much value in a college education these days. Honestly some institutions have made earning a degree so easy anyone can get one. There are some valid programs but others are just degree mills. It seems no one values traditional skills any more.

[shoot-n-lead]

I don't believe there is much value in a college education these days. Honestly some institutions have made earning a degree so easy anyone can get one. There are some valid programs but others are just degree mills. It seems no one values traditional skills any more.

Might not be any value in a college education...but there are PLENTY of places that will not even accept an application from you, without that sheepskin. And, even if they will accept it without a degree...those with a degree, have a definite advantage in getting the job and you can't blame the employer for giving preference.

[Blackwater]

Properly done, a college degree should teach discipline and determination as much as it does information. It should develop good judgment. Today? Sadly, I live in a college town, and I see so very little of these things. Most can't handle their own lives, much less any real responsibility to others! The degree of willfulness and immaturity I see in many of them (not all, but a whole lot of them) is appaling! A friend of mine went back to college some years back, and when I asked him what he thought of his fellow classmates, he paused, thought, and said he was pretty surprised. Most of them were going there on pell grants, and whatever help they could get, and working one or two part time jobs as well as doing all their studies. Weekends were spent studying instead of partying. It's the partiers that get all the attention. At one of the local "clubs," a murder recently took place. Young man lost his life over really nothing.

So the more things change, the more they stay the same. Some go to learn and profit, and some go to party and "get away" with all they can. I doubt this will ever change. The partiers seem to be the ones who were coddled and over-protected while growing up. The more serious students seem to come from parents who encouraged them to make their own decisions in life, and take serious things seriously. What a difference that yields!