What is the difference between secondary and postsecondary education

There are no bells. Students must know when they need to be at class and monitor the time. One class might be right after the other as in high school, or students may have a block of time between classes. Students choose when they stop for coffee, use the restrooms, go to class, or study.

Classes may be in multiple buildings. All classrooms may not be physically accessible, so students may need to register early to request an accessible classroom location. Course selection and expectations College course format, instructional strategies and expectations may be different than in high school courses.

There are more choices of instructors, courses and course requirements. Students need to know how they learn best, what type of instructional formats and styles work best for them, and how to use this information in selecting courses. There is no one person who ensures students complete the necessary courses and are on the path for earning credits toward graduation; students need to do this themselves or seek advice from academic or department advisers.

Instructors rarely teach directly from the text and often lecture for the entire class period. Instructors often plan their courses so that students do a lot of their learning outside of class including acquiring knowledge and facts from outside reading and library research. Most successful students expect to spend hours of studying for each hour they are in class, and students with disabilities may need to plan on a few more hours.

Professors are not like high school teachers. They will treat you as an adult. When the professor hands out the course syllabus on the first day of class, add dates of assignments and exams to your planner. You may have the privilege of taking classes from professors who are world-renowned in their field. Although many people achieve considerable success without postsecondary education, the odds are better for those who seek additional schooling.

Many jobs in the blue-collar trades and white-collar professions require postsecondary training and a license. Unskilled workers are more likely to end up in low-pay, dead-end jobs. Mary Dowd is a dean of students whose job includes student conduct, leading the behavioral consultation team, crisis response, retention and the working with the veterans resource center.

She enjoys helping parents and students solve problems through advising, teaching and writing online articles that appear on many sites. Students can receive a wide range of degrees from a broad liberal arts degree that deepens critical-thinking skills to a more hands-on business degree.

The purpose of secondary education is to ready students to either pursue a post-secondary education or enter into a vocational career that does not require further formal study. Post-secondary education helps students develop skills and expertise they can apply in later professional careers. For example, a student who studies English may pursue a career as an editor. A medical student studies to become a doctor. A computer engineering student may become a computer scientist.

The goals are twofold: to help students develop independent reasoning skills and to prepare them for the job market. In order to receive accommodations, students must submit the appropriate disability documentation with the DSS Office.

It is important that the documentation provides a history of a disability. Please refer to our Apply with DSS page to learn more about what type of documentation may be needed. For this reason, it is important that students apply early.

Students also need to self-identify and provide documentation of disability at their own cost. It becomes the student's responsibility to request and arrange services well in advance.

Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights