The Money Talk
This term describes the actual amount of money you need to earn to cover basic needs like rent, food, and clothes without falling into debt.
Answer: What is a living wage?
This is the amount of student debt the average apprenticeship graduate finishes with.
What is zero?
Professional certificates and licenses are considered "short-term" because they usually take less than this many years to complete.
What is one year?
This is the specific name of the degree you earn after graduating from a 2-year community college.
What is an Associate degree?
This prefix added to the word "secondary" means any education that happens after high school.
What is post (Postsecondary)?
This is the minimum level of education that usually results in the lowest weekly earnings and highest unemployment rates.
What is a high school diploma (alone)?
Instead of just sitting in a classroom, apprentices spend most of their time doing this with a master professional.
What is working on the job (or hands-on training)?
These affordable, local institutions are a primary place where you can earn a technical certificate or an Associate degree.
What is a community college (or technical/trade school)?
This is the specific name of the degree you earn after graduating from a 4-year university.
What is a Bachelor’s degree?
This piece of paper is a general term for a degree, certificate, or license that proves to employers you have specific skills.
What is a credential?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers with this 4-year degree earn an average of about $1,500 a week.
What is a Bachelor’s degree?
Name two of the traditional skilled trades mentioned in the script that use apprenticeships.
What are electricians and plumbers?
This medical career involves drawing blood from patients in a hospital and can be entered quickly via a certificate program.
What is a phlebotomist?
If you want to become a doctor or a lawyer, completing a 4-year Bachelor’s degree is considered this necessary step.
What is the first step (or prerequisite)?
When it comes to picking a path after high school, the presentation says that this "does not fit all."
What is one size?
Workers with an Associate degree earn roughly this much more per week than workers with only a high school diploma.
What is $150?
According to the Department of Labor, this is the impressive average starting salary for someone completing a registered apprenticeship.
What is $80,000?
Certificate programs focus less on general education and more on teaching a specific, high-demand this.
What is a technical skill?
This high-paying healthcare career was explicitly mentioned as an option you can unlock with a 2-year Associate degree.
What is a Registered Nurse (RN), Dental Hygienist, or Radiation Therapist?
The presentation states that the decisions you make during these upcoming four years of school will pave the road to your future path.
What is high school?
This phrase describes the total amount of money you make over your entire career, which is historically highest for college graduates.
What is lifetime earnings?
True or False: Apprenticeships are only for construction jobs and do not exist in modern fields like tech or cybersecurity.
What is False?
Name one of the non-medical certificate careers mentioned in the script.
What is a welder or automotive technician?
Community colleges offer two main tracks: one goes straight into the workforce, and the other allows you to do this to a 4-year university.
What is transfer?
This is the legal floor for wages, which the script notes is usually not enough to cover the actual cost of living.
What is minimum wage?