Choosing a School

Practical factors can help you determine which school is a good choice for you. Pay attention to what the school offers, where you want to live, and what you can afford. Those factors should narrow the field considerably.

You can explore California colleges on this website. The Campus Facts section is particularly useful and provides great detail about each school. You can follow the links to each school's official website to learn even more.

If you or your parents are figuring out how to pay for college, know that help is available to you. To begin, there is a host of information available in the Finance section of this website.

Traditional sources of money for college are student loans, grants, work-study, and scholarships. There are also less traditional sources available that require more research on your part. Your high school guidance counselor's office is a good place to start searching for financing solutions. Ask your parents if their workplace offers scholarships to the children of employees. There are also books, scholarship search services, and online resources to help you reach your financial aid goals.

Do I Need More School?

Deciding whether or not you want or need more school will depend largely on the nature of the careers you're interested in. Some occupations can be entered right away after high school graduation while others might require an apprenticeship. (An apprenticeship is a period of learning on the job in a junior capacity under the direction of someone who is experienced in the work.) Other occupations will require that you go to a technical school for two years or may require an advanced degree of four or more years.