With the push for more green technology jobs, the Department of Labor has distributed $7.5 million in green employment and training back in July 2009. There is a one requirement for this funding: this money is designated to help Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans obtain green jobs.

Organizations across the country are reaping the benefits of this new funding while helping veterans. One in particular, Swords to Plowshares located in San Francisco, has received $300,000 to help train and find veterans green jobs in the Bay area.

The employment agency is one of 17 nationwide to receive this funding and so far it’s helped several veterans transition to civilian life after their tours of duty. Some of the careers that this funding is going to are:

• Solar panel installation
• Weatherization
• Green certification in HVAC

Learn more about green training today with CareerExplorer.com!

As four-year colleges and universities continue to raise tuition costs, students with limits on their time and money are seeking new educational options. In recent months, community colleges across the country have reported record growth. But in some cases, schools have to think outside the box to find ways to accommodate such a dramatic increase in students.

Solutions such as expanded makeshift parking lots where more students can park, using rented spaces for additional classroom space, or placing students on waiting lists for the next session have already been employed at some schools. Now, a few community colleges are experimenting with expanded class schedules that mean some students are studying poetry, psychology, and welding in the dead of the night.

Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts and Clackamas Community College in Oregon are two schools that are embracing this unorthodox class schedule. Bunker Hill’s midnight class offerings are currently a psychology course and a writing course, while Clackamas students have the option of spending their late-night hours perfecting their welding techniques.

If late-night learning isn’t your thing, a community college near you may be bumping up its class schedule to help students get an earlier start. How does 6 am sound? If you’re an early bird, a community college near you might have extra-early classes that help you fit even more into your already busy schedule.

Would you ever take classes late at night or early in the morning? Do you think these classes would be a convenient fit in your life?

Who said you had to become a doctor, lawyer or teacher? In today’s workforce, you can almost find a career in any sector or industry! Let’s explore some of the weirder careers that people find!

1. Odor Tester: just like it sounds, your job is test the odor from perfumes, deodorants and antiperspirant and more. You definitely need a nose for this job!

2. Hair Boiler: you got it! You boil animal hair until it curls for later use… I still don’t want to know what they use that hair for.

3. Waste Station/Water Treatment Worker: more dirty than weird but it makes the list!

4. Citrus Fruit Dyer: you guessed it! Sometimes those lemons just look too yellow – that’s where a dyer comes in handy. They make the fruit look more vibrant by dying it.

5. Crocodile Wrangler: all Steve Irwin jokes aside – this is a real career. You can learn how to become accustomed to handling dangerous, or not-so-dangerous animals in this exciting career.

6. Fortune Cookie Writer: your day will brighten up with this career! Just thought a computer cranked out your fortunes? Nope. That’s a writer’s job and maybe yours in the future.

7. Pet Detective: since Jim Carey took to the big screen you can bet there are real life Ace Venturas on the job! Take your passion for detectives and animals and turn them into a rewarding career.

8. Cheese Sprayer: do you have what it takes to coat various food items with cheese? Then, this job just might be for you.

9. IMAX Screen Cleaner: it sounds just like what you would be doing: cleaning the giant IMAX screen.

10. Chimney Sweeper: too old school? No way. Chimneys might not be used like they used to be, but that doesn’t mean this career has gone up in smoke!

Does one of these careers pique your interests? Learn more about your career opportunities, whether they be weird or not, with CareerExplorer.com!

The problem?
Deep budget cuts are forcing colleges to lay off instructors and eliminate basic classes.  Less teachers and classes, but more returning students is making it harder to get into the courses so they can graduate on time.

More time in college doesn’t necessarily mean “more fun” to some students. It literally can mean “time is money.” And they’re losing a lot of both. In some schools, wait-listed students actually take turns standing closest to a lecture hall door so they could hear the lesson and not fall too far behind. That is, if there was any way they could get in the class in the first place.

Tough times means plenty of tough lessons
College budget cuts are becoming a bigger problem, because they hit core entry-level courses hardest, first. Students struggle to reserve seats in the core entry-level classes such as math 101 because the part-time instructors who typically teach those courses are the first to be laid off when budgets run low. Other students are shut out of crowded core courses in their majors by upperclassmen, which are usually preferred for first spots.

A perfect example of this would be the 23-campus California State higher education system. In response to a 20% budget cut, officials have raised tuition more than 30%, increased class sizes by up to a third, and quickly laid off hundreds of teachers, while slashing curriculum.

It’s about more than just money
Money isn’t necessarily the only problem. Some experts argue that traditional colleges and universities focus too much on prestigious but unessential graduate programs at the expense of the undergrad basics. Because many schools have now pushed their professors to their working limits and every class spot has been taken, some students say they are out of choices.

Sherrie Canedo, a fifth-year senior at Cal State-East Bay, was recently told she could finish her ethnic studies degree through independent study because most of the courses she needs were eliminated.

“I don’t feel that’s an acceptable way to learn,” Canedo told Terence Chea of the Associated Press, and added that she’s working two jobs and trying to string together enough financial aid to finish her education. “I’m paying to be taught in a classroom.”

Is your local college enduring budget cuts that make it harder for you to get an education? Use the powerful search engine at Career Explorer to find local career colleges that may accept your transfer credits. We’re here to help!

Many of us don’t place a postsecondary education in the same category as our other monthly bills: rent, electricity, cable, car payments, or credit card bills. Typically, expenses allotted for “education” are notably much pricier than those other monthly bills. But a company called StraighterLine is now offering an online college education at a flat rate of $99 per month – a cost that fits right in with the rest of those ordinary monthly bills. But is it the real deal? Students who have used StraighterLine say, “yes!”

Earning an advanced education can feel overwhelming in today’s economic climate. As job losses occur across almost every business sector, making serious time and financial commitments to an education might seem out of the question.

But today’s students now have a new option. StraighterLine was established to give students a new option for earning required college credits, and for making a college education more accessible. Burck Smith is StraighterLine’s founder and he’s serious about helping out today’s college student. Like many other educational experts, he recognized early on the power of technology to change the face of higher learning. With advances that are constantly being made in the online world, colleges can now provide an online education at almost no cost. In fact, the financial cost to most institutions may only be the cost of labor – paying the instructor who passes his or her expertise on to students.

So, are these institutions passing their savings on to the students? Most of the time, the answer is no. This is where Burck Smith saw an opening for StraighterLine. With a flat charge of only $99 a month, students can take online classes through StraighterLine to fulfill their college course requirements. As most college students will tell you, that $99 monthly rate is significantly cheaper than a typical university’s asking price.

Know anyone who’s used StraighterLine to earn their college credits? How do you feel about such dramatically increased accessibility and affordability in the education world?