University+vs.+College

 =**Stressing over college or university? Don't. Experts say both lead to jobs** =

By Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – Sat, 29 Jan 1:20 PM EST TORONTO - The deadline to apply to colleges in Ontario is Tuesday, but Canadian high school seniors weighing their next steps toward the job market shouldn't stress too much when choosing between college and university.  Both paths are just as likely to lead to a full-time job, statistics show, although college will get students there faster and university will pay more. The latest statistics show three out of four students will land a full-time job within two years of graduation, regardless of which way they go. But university generally takes longer and costs more, and college students tend to get more job-specific training. Dylan Sawyer, a senior at Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto, said he's always heard university is "all theory" and expensive _ a combination that doesn't appeal to him. "I much prefer hands-on kind of work," said the 17-year-old, who applied to Humber, George Brown and Conestoga colleges. His classmate, Mugaya Bagambiire, said he'll take on heavy tuition and years of intense study for a crack at medical school. "I don't know if it will get me a better chance at getting a job, but it'll be a job that I'm interested in," he said. Even for those focused on the job market, there are no clear answers. Some of the sectors with the most demand, such as IT and health care, are open to both college and university graduates, said Byrne Luft, vice-president of marketing for the recruiting firm Manpower Canada. Students with highly specialized skills, like those taught in college programs or technical schools, may find work faster, "but statistics show you get paid more with a university degree," he said. A Statistics Canada report that looked at the employment status of the class of 2005 found 74.3 per cent of college graduates landed full-time work two years down the line, compared with 73 per cent of university graduates. But while both types of education will lead to work, the National Graduates Survey showed significant gaps in the median salaries of those working full-time based on their level of education. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">College graduates typically earned $35,000 per year while university graduates earned $45,000. But there were wide variations within each education level, and about a quarter of college graduates earned $44,300 or more, the data show. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Bagambiire said among his friends there's still a stigma associated with college. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"A lot of people think that if you go to college, you're going to be working at a lesser job," he said. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A new ad campaign launched by the Ontario government challenges that image by listing dozens of technical and trade jobs students can aspire to. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">John Milloy, Ontario's minister of training, colleges and universities, said the campaign isn't intended to push college. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It's purpose is to "increase the number of people pursuing post-secondary education," regardless of the institution they choose, he said. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What's more, it's not always necessary to choose between college and university, Milloy said. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"More and more, we're finding students are doing both," either through established hybrid programs or by transferring their credits. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sabrina Direnzo, a senior at St. Paul Secondary School in Mississauga, isn't ruling out a combination of college and university. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The 18-year-old applied for both and hasn't decided yet where she'll go. "I wanted to keep my options as open as possible," she said in an email. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In the end, Direnzo's decision depends more on cost and location than the odds of landing a job after graduation, she said. <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"I'm not too worried," she said. "I feel that after I graduate, there will be more opportunities than there are now."