A Brief History of Career and Technical Schools and Their Need for an Excellent School Management System
The first career school in the United States was Foster’s Commercial School of Boston which opened in 1832. Just a few years later, 15 to 20 more private career schools were training students in business-oriented subjects. By the time of the Civil War in the 1860’s, major chains of career schools began operations. One can only imagine the difficulty of record-keeping in those days. A school management system was not even a dream back then.
With the start of the 20th century and the Industrial Revolution, new technologies and methods were making business-related tasks more efficient and necessary. These included the use of shorthand, typewriters, and adding machines. These new developments required new skills and encouraged more young people to enter the workforce.
Career colleges quickly became popular because they provided shorter, less expensive programs focused on skills needed for employment. In the second half of the 20th century, major professional associations, such as the Career College Association, were promoting these schools. They were also known as vocational schools, trade schools, or technical colleges. However, data collection and storage was cumbersome since schools used paper records, filing cabinets, while such as creating transcripts and reports were time-consuming.
There are more than 50,000 postsecondary career colleges and schools, some of which are eligible to participate in federal finding programs. The increasing numbers of students and programs as well as new and broad government requirements for processing, storing, and reporting information has created new challenges for career schools. As a result, the use of a comprehensive, secure, and affordable post-secondary school management system is now a necessity. One of the most secure and affordable school management systems is STARS, which is an acronym for Student Tracking and Accounting Record System. The STARS system is so comprehensive that no additional third-party software applications are needed to meet the needs of most schools.
Within STARS you will find a financial management tool, a student records base, a scheduling tool, a student information system, a CRM, and a student financial tracking option. One of the most requested feature of STARS is the student Portal which enables students to make payments, communicate with school personnel, and view grades, attendance, and schedules. STARS clients will soon have access to an optional learning management system which will be fully integrated with the system.
Compared to the past, managing career colleges and schools today is much more efficient thanks to the use of school information systems such as STARS!
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