Learner Resources
Exploring Training
and Education
Overview
There are several ways in which you can begin making plans for your future. You can start by
exploring careers, then finding the training and education that can get you on a path that matches
your interests and skills. Or, maybe you already know what you want to study in college, and it
makes more sense for you to start the process there. Either way, the West Virginia myStrategic
Compass can serve as the “home base” for your planning efforts.
How to Use This Tool
There are several ways to explore training and education, so we are going to explore each
process step-by-step. There are three ways to directly search for what you need:
•
Find a College
•
Fields of Study
•
Find Training
There are also two tools for helping you to make a decision about the college or degree that
is right for you:
•
Choosing a Field of Study
•
Cost of College
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There are a number of post-High School options that can help you prepare for a career:
• High School Career Technical Education – These programs are offered at high schools
throughout the state. They are designed to start you on a path to a rewarding career.
Project Lead the Way, for example, teaches the basic principles of engineeriing and is a
great first step toward a career in the Engineering field.
• Adult Career Technical Education – Often offered at our Career Technical Centers, these
programs get you ready to step directly into the world of work. Practical Nursing is a
great example. These programs often result in a “Postsecondary Vocational Award”. These credentials generally take less time than an Associate’s Degree, but can open
doors for you in the career field you want to pursue.
• Associate’s Degrees – You can earn these degrees at most of our Universities, Colleges,
Community Colleges, and Career Technical Centers in a wide range of fields. They are
designed to be completed in two years. In some cases, Associate’s Degrees can be the
first step in pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree. In other cases, it may be just the credential
you need to get into the career you want.
• Bachelor’s Degrees – These are four-year degrees that you can earn at our Universities
and Colleges. Many of our most innovative and in-demand jobs require this level of
education. People who hold these degrees generally earn more money over a lifetime
than anyone else.
• Advanced Degrees – After you’ve earned a Bachelor’s Degree, you may opt to pursue
more education. You can earn a Master’s or Doctor’s Degree by investing more of yourself into your continued education.
No matter what career you intend to pursue, there are options available to help you prepare. Everyone needs some postsecondary education, whether that’s a one-year certificate or a Master’s Degree. Your myStrategic Compass site will help you find the option
that’s right for you.
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Steps
Find a College
1. Access myStrategic Compass at
http://westvirginia.strategiccompass.com
2. Log in with your username and password
3. Hover over the “Explore” Tab and select
“Find a College in Your Area”
4. Click on West Virginia in the map
5. You will see a table of colleges. You
may see a lot of results. Select the
options you want, then click “Filter”. You can filter the results in a number
of ways:
• By state
• By zip code and radius
• By student body size
• By campus setting
• By college type
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6. Click on “West Virginia University”. You will
see a profile that includes several components:
• Institution Profile – basic information about
the institution
• Admissions Data – a breakdown of the
institution’s most recent applicants by gender,
acceptance rate, and ACT/SAT scores
• Cost and Fees – estimates of the various
costs associated with attending this
institution
• Submission Requirements Checklist – a list
of things you need to be prepared to include
with your application
• Tuition Estimates – the cost of being a
student at this institution. You can also see
how the tuition has changed over the last few
years
• Application Information – if the institution has
an application deadline or accepts common
or universal applications, you will see that
here
• Student Body Demographics – a breakdown
of the most recent student body by gender
and race
• Enrollments – the total number of students
enrolled by program type
• Financial Aid – information about types
and frequency of financial aid that is made
available to some or all students at this
institution to make it more affordable
• Athletics – the institution’s conference
affiliation and participation in athletics,
broken down by gender and by sport
• Majors Offered – a list of majors that are
offered. You will see the institution’s most
popular programs, but you can use the
three buttons to select either all of its
undergraduate programs.
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7. Each program title is a link to details about that program. You can also click on any one
of them to find other institutions that offer the same program.
There is a separate window in the upper left corner of each institution profile that gives you
options for making it a part of your personal career plan. There are five options:
• Rating – You can rate an institution on a scale of 1-5 by clicking on the star that
represents the rating you want to give
• Compatibility – Based on the results from your personality profilers, your skills profile,
your education level and your target college specifications, the system will rate your
compatibility to the institution. If you want to see the details of how the system came to
this conclusion, just click on “Why?”.
• What Will it Cost Me – You can explore the costs associated with attending this
institution
• Create a Plan – You can build a personal plan to help you complete all the steps for
applying here or for exploring further
• College Navigator – This links to a government site that gives you all the information
about any educational institution
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Fields of Study
1. Hover over the “Explore” Tab and select “Type of Field”.
2. You will see all of the families of college programs. Click on “Business and Financial
Operations Majors”. 3. You will see a list of all the majors in this family. Click on “Organizational Leadership”
4. You will see a detailed profile of this program, including a description of the program,
a list of similar majors, the occupations that are related to this program, and an option
for finding institutions that offer it. Click on “Find Institutions offering Organizational
Leadership”.
5. You will now see a list of the institutions that offer this program, and you can click on any
institution title to find a detailed profile like the one we studied earlier.
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Find Training
1. Hover over the “Explore” Tab and select “Find Training”
2. You will see a list of all the Career Technical Education Programs available in your
area. You can change the terms of your search at the top of the page. You can also
sort the table by any of the column headers.
3. You can click on a program title to see a profile that includes additional locations and
more information about the program, including the occupations that you can grow into
once you’re on this path.
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Decision Tools – Choosing a Field of Study
1. Hover over the “Decide” Tab and select “Choosing a Field of Study”
2. There are three options here for looking at college programs from different perspectives
a.
b.
c.
By the average wages of occupations that are related to this program
By the projected annual openings of occupations that are related to this
program
By the number of students who graduated with this degree in the last year
3. You will see a list of collie majors, sorted by the average wages of related occupations.
From here, you can click on any one of them to see that program’s profile and to find
institutions that offer it.
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Decision Tools – Cost of College
1. Hover over the “Decide” Tab and select “The Cost of College”.
2. Click “Get Started”
3. Enter the title of an occupation, or select from the list of your saved occupations
4. The first screen shows you the average wages of occupations that require different
levels of education within this field. Click on “Choose a College”.
5. You will see institutions that offer this program, as well as your saved colleges. Click on
one of the institutions.
6. From here, you will see how the costs of earning this degree balance against your
earning potential. By default, you will see the average values for each item. If you want
to play “what if”, or if you know your actual numbers, you can adjust the values in the
white boxes below to see the updated calculations.
7. You can use the buttons at the bottom to build a budget based on the average
wages of this occupation and the average cost of student debt, or you can find other
colleges that offer the same program in order to compare the costs.
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Activities
1. Follow the steps above to find the college programs with the highest average wages for
its related occupations.
2. What Bachelor degree program in West Virginia offers the best earning potential?
3. What Associate degree program offers the best earning potential?
4. For the best-paying Bachelor degree program in the state, what careers can you obtain
with the degree?
5. Are there any institutions in your area that offer this program?
6. Select one of the institutions and complete the following table:
Institution Title
Average tuition
Total enrollments
Average SAT scores of applicants
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Activities – Two
1. Hover over the “Explore” Tab and select “Find Training”. The Accounting program is the
first one listed. Name three high schools where it is available:
2. Click on “Accounting” in the table. What occupations are related to this program?
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Next Steps
Choosing your educational pathway after high school is one of the most important things
you’ll ever do. Make journal entries at every step of your exploration process. Discuss
what you’ve learned with your family and your counselor.
Explaining the Results
There are a lot of components to the process of exploring college and training programs. If
you have time, try to explain and discuss each separately.
Discuss with your students or jobseekers the whole employment dynamic. Ask them
to think through the reasons that an employer might need to hire someone, and how
educational attainment can assure an employer that you have the skills for a certain job.
©2013 WIN Learning
1313705291