Purpose: To provide practical and down-to-earth information to adults in the Virginia area about successful career opportunities which

require short, post high school education, and the paths to take to pursue and finance them. Pharmacy Technician Official Link http://www.germanna.edu/Academics_And_Student_Services/Academics/Programs/C areer_Studies_Certificate/pharmacy-technician.asp
Qualifies to take the Virginia Pharmacy Technician Exam and the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination. 17 Credit Hours, designed to be taken in one semester. Can portion some classes into additional semesters, such as 3 in Fall, 2 in Spring, and finishing with 1 in Summer.

Salary Information http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/Pharmacy-Technician-I-Salary-Details.aspx $31,800 average Would start around $12-13 hourly range, with full benefits, and approach $15 an hour after 2 years. Continued career would advance to Pharmacy Technician II, which tops out around $20 an hour after 5 years. Continued education would advance even further, with most logical mid-term goal to become a Pharmacy Technician Supervisor, which make $45,000 average with full benefits, and requires typically a 2-year degree + experience granted from being a Pharmacy Technician while in school. Some Extra Information http://www.testprepreview.com/pharmacytechnician_jobs.htm Nurse Aid/Nursing Assistant Official Link http://www.germanna.edu/Academics_And_Student_Services/Academics/Programs/C areer_Studies_Certificate/nurse-aide.asp
Upon completion of this curriculum and certification by the Virginia Board of Nursing, individuals will be eligible for employment in a variety of health care settings. 18 Credit Hours, designed to be taken over a one-year period. 2 classes per semester, for Fall, Spring, and finishing in Summer.

Salary Information http://www1.salary.com/Certified-Nursing-Assistant-salary.html $31,000 average Would start around $11-12 hourly range, with full benefits, and approach $15 an hour after 2 years. Continued career advance would require continued education, with most logical mid-term goal to become a Registered Nurse, which make $67,000 average with full benefits, and requires typically a 2year degree + experience granted from being a Nursing Assistant while in school. Some Extra Information http://allnurses.com/cna-ma-nursing/career-move-cna-646317.html

Banking Official Link: http://www.germanna.edu/Academics_And_Student_Services/Academics/Programs/C areer_Studies_Certificate/banking.asp

Occupational Objectives: Bank Teller, Loan Officer Assistant, Customer Service Representative, Retail Lender, Junior Commercial Loan Officer and Branch Manager, and Credit Analyst. 24 Credit Hours, designed to be taken over a one-year period. 3 classes in Fall, 3 classes in Spring, and finishing with 2 classes in Summer.

Salary Information http://www1.salary.com/Banking-Commercial-Loan-Processing-Clerk-salary.html $29,800 average Would start around $11-12 hourly range, with full benefits, and approach $15 an hour after 2 years. Continued career advancement would advance into a Loan Officer position, to approach $40,000 average, $19 an hour. Continued education, with most logical mid-term goal to become a Credit Analyst, which make $45,000 average with full benefits, and requires typically 4-year degree + no experience. Having experience as a Loan Clerk or Officer would increase starting salary closer to $50,000. Some Extra Information: http://occupations.careers.org/43-4131.00/loan-interviewers-and-clerks Dental Assistant Official Link: http://www.germanna.edu/Academics_And_Student_Services/Academics/Programs/C ertificate_Programs/dental-assisting.asp
Purpose: The curriculum is designed to prepare selected students to serve in a dynamic and growing health profession as valuable members of the Dental Health team. At the successful completion of the program, the student will be eligible to take the Dental Assisting National Board Examination. 39 Credit Hours, designed to be taken over a two-year period. First, 4 non-dental classes would be taken, most likely 2 in Fall semester and 2 in Spring semester. Then, the Dental classes would be completed over the next year, with 4 in Fall semester, 5 in Spring semester, and 2 in Summer semester. Some of these classes are 1 credit classes, so very easy, thus the apparent high demands of 5 in Spring and 4 in Fall should not scare prospective student.

Salary Information http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/dental-assistant-Salary-Details.aspx $33,000 average, would start around $14-15 hourly range, with full benefits, and approach $17 an hour after 2 years. Continued career advancement would require continued education, with the most logical mid-term goal to become a Dental Hygienist, which make $66,000 average with full benefits, and require typically a 2year degree + experience gained as a Dental Assistant. Some Extra Information:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/02/06/dental-assistant-is-it-a-goodcareer-choice-for-you/ How to Pay for Education Each of the careers listed do not require a substantial financial investment, even in the worst case scenario. Most require around 20 credit hours, which amounts to around $3000 of education expenses, including books and course materials. Many avenues exist to help with this cost, and I believe there are five solid paths to follow to finance your education. FAFSA The best case scenario is most likely FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is designed to help adults unable to afford college. Prior to age 24, if you are not married, the amount of money given depends on a combination of your income, and your parents income. Unfortunately, this often limits the amount of aid you are eligible for, even if your parents dont help you financially at all. After you turn age 24, the amount depends only on your income, and generally will offer you a free-ride to community college. Prior to age 24, if you are married, it no longer depends on your parents income, just you and your spouses, and generally will offer a free-ride to community college. In some scenarios FAFSA even offers additional financial aid than needed for classes, netting you some extra money each semester. American Opportunity Credit The American Opportunity Credit is a tax credit which allows you repayment of 100% of the first $2,000 of education expenses per year. The only limiting factors are it only applies to the first four years of education, requires you to make under $80,000 a year, and it cannot be combined with the next credit I will talk about. This is independent of your age, and would offer practically a free-ride to any of the listed programs exceptIt expired in 2012 and has not been extended yet. It is still possible it will be extended, and if so is a fantastic option should FAFSA not work out for you. Lifetime Learning Credit The Lifetime Learning Credit is a tax credit which shouldnt be going anywhere anytime soon, unlike the American Opportunity Credit. It is a tax credit which allows you repayment of 20% of the first $10,000 of education expenses per year. The only limiting factor is a very high salary limitation of upwards of $110,000 per year. While not a free ride, it is essentially a discount which, combined with being able to deduct every $ of education expenses off your earned income, allows for around a 30% return on education expenses. Jobs with Tuition Reimbursement One last option to consider if FAFSA doesnt work may be employment with a job that offers Tuition Reimbursement. This benefit is NOT exclusive to only professional careers, and a trend which will hopefully grow is businesses catering their workforce towards young college students by offering some tuition reimbursement. One great example is Sheetz, believe it or not: http://sheetzjobz.com/educational-assistance.html

Sheetz offers $750 of tuition reimbursement per semester, up to $1500 a year. This is just one of many examples. The following link lists many businesses in the area which offer tuition reimbursement as a benefit to employees: http://voices.yahoo.com/national-retail-employers-will-help-pay-your-8689089.html? cat=3

Student Loans The ultimate last resort, but one which you may have to accept, is student loans. Thankfully, the horror stories you hear about people paying student loans the rest of their lives is NOT because they financed a career certificate, it is because they financed a bachelors or masters degree. The difference in price is about $50,000 instead of $3,000. Two types of student loans exist, Federal and Private. Federal student loans are offered by the government, and are either low interest or zero interest loans. Most everyone would qualify for one, and talking with an advisor at your local Community College would be the best place to start. Private student loans are eligible for anyone, but are pretty terrible. You would be about as well off financing your college on a credit card at that point.