San Diego, CA. – Career and academic dreams can easily fall by the wayside for military spouses while helping their service member settle into an unfamiliar state at a new duty station.
San Diego Continuing Education (SDCE) offers military and active duty military spouses more than 60 free short-term career certificate programs and thousands of low cost classes including Business, Computers and Information Technology, and Parent Education.
SDCE is known for its flexible schedules so military spouses can make the best of their education as they support their family during deployment. Many classes are open-entry/open-exit, which means students can enroll any time, and are located at 7 campuses around San Diego and dozens of off-site locations including MCAS Miramar.
According to National Family Military Association, “The unemployment rate for military spouses is nearly 26% more than three times the national average.” Military families relocate to a new duty station every few years, sometimes across the United States or overseas prohibiting suitable time to finish a degree or maintain a good career. Spouses often desire to work near their service member on a base due to unpredictable deployments, training and long schedules but may lack the credentials.
Working at a daycare facility on site allows both parents to be near their children. The Parent Education and Child Development Certificate program at SDCE is a multifaceted pathway that focuses on fostering a positive social and cognitive environment for both parents and children. SDCE courses range from Family Home Day Care Training and 3-5 Year Old/Preschool Experience.
Watch: Free SDCE Parent Education Certificate Program
“Parent involvement is the key differentiator here, in some of the classes children attend with their parents or caregivers. Comparatively an average day care might have five children to every adult, and a preschool might have up to twelve students for every one teacher,” said Stacy Surwilo, SDCE faculty. “This is where you really develop your experience in different age groups. What a twelve-month year old needs is completely different than what a three-month year old needs.”
Students may choose from two Child Development free career training certificates which can generally be completed in six months. Select classes are eligible for three units of college credit and can be used toward an Associate Degree in Child Development at one of San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) colleges, City, Mesa or Miramar.
SDCE offers free classes and career training and is the largest feeder school for SDCCD as many adults start at SDCE and transition to college. Other credit by exam agreement classes includes Business, Interactive Media and Automotive.
New recruits may study basic skills or high school diploma/equivalency at SDCE in preparation of joining the armed forces. SDCE basic skills courses can help individuals score higher on the ASVAB, which determines what jobs service members will place into. ASVAB exams include a series of questions about general science, arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge and paragraph comprehension.
There are 12,697 active military, military veterans and dependents attending classes in the SDCCD including SDCE. All three SDCCD colleges have been deemed as Military Friendly Schools by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs, STEM Jobs and Military Spouse.
Summer semester classes and free certificate programs at SDCE begin June 12.
June 9, 2017
For Immediate Release
Allura Garis
Public Information Office
agaris@sdccd.edu
619-388-1296