Students take fast track at Heald
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Florencio Ceria Jr. was already enrolled in the electronics technician course at Heald College when he found out his wife was pregnant with their second child.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Despite the midnight feedings and sleepless nights that were coming with a newborn, Ceria was glad he had chosen to jump into school again to change his career. And he knew that by the time his baby was walking, he'd be retrained and launched on a new profession that paid twice as much as he was making as a therapeutic aide.
Electronics lab assistant Florencio Ceria Jr., left, helps Dante Cajilig with a radio project at Heald College. Ceria, 32, enrolled at Heald when he decided to pursue a new career.
"I wanted to give my kids more choices," says the 32-year-old, who graduates next week. "With Heald I saw the opportunity to change my career in the shortest possible time."
To be competitive, that's one of the niches this small college has carved for itself. Offering an 18-month night school associate degree with a focus in technology fields, Heald appeals both to high school graduates jumping on the latest trend and to professionals who want to better themselves but don't have the luxury of time.
"We have a combo of people," says Heald president Larry Barton."There are 50 percent from high school, but the others may have already tried a community college or a university and decided it wasn't for them. Or people who lost their jobs and decided they need the degree to accelerate their career."
Heald made it easy for Ceria: He worked during the day and then began an intensive five hours of school from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. They even gave him a part-time job as a lab assistant.
"You have to manage your time," he says. "You have to be very focused in class and listen to what needs to be done. But it was tough when my son was born."
• The small college at 1500 Kapi'olani Blvd., focusing on technology training, bought the former Cannon's School of Business and Honolulu Business College in 1993. • Tuition is $17,100 for the 18-month associate degree that fast-tracks students who want to change careers or retool quickly for job advancement. • There's a network of 11 Heald campuses in three Western states — Hawai'i, Oregon and California. Total enrollment is 10,000, with Hawai'i enrollment at 1,100. • Programs include accounting, computer information technology, electronics technology, hospitality and tourism, medical assisting, medical office administration, business software applications, computer business administration, and certification training for networking technology, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Windows. • Information at 955-1500 or www.heald.edu.
And yet, it would have been impossible to stay in human services and move up the ladder, he said. That requires getting a master's degree. "And that would take two years and I'd have to go to school full time, and I can't afford that."
School focuses on technology
Heald has anticipated the needs of professionals returning to school who want to move fast. With generous financial aid packages, a quarter system and online applications, they've attempted to make the return to school as seamless as possible.
"In 50 years there's never been more financial aid available than right now and almost everyone qualifies," said Barton. "The federal government provides loans and grants. The state of Hawai'i has some programs. The student can get 'packaged.' They can qualify for financial aid and also Heald scholarships (which offer a full ride for seven students and partial for another 14)."
For Joselito Canoy, speed was also crucial. With five children, two still at home, he wanted to upgrade his job skills to offer himself for promotion at Territorial Savings in Pearl City, where he has been employed as a loan data representative. But he was surprised at becoming a new kind of role model for his kids.
"They said they admire me for taking the time and still having the energy to study," he said. When Canoy, 47, gets home from school by 10 each evening, he sometimes studies with his son, a 19-year-old Kapi'olani Community College student.
Barton sees continuing momentum for midcareer people returning to school, and believes Sept. 11 is still a driving force. Heald is already seeing "a huge jump" for the next quarter. Returning students savor Heald's small classes, nurturing relationship with teachers and successful track record of job placement.
"There's roughly 92 percent placement of our students at graduation," he said. "Just last week Intel recruited 52 students from this one campus. Intel is our single largest recruiter, with many graduates sent to Portland, Ore., or Austin, Texas."
While 50 percent of the male students at Heald choose technology, now 24 percent of the female students are also choosing it, said Barton. "We try to remind students 'You're going to spend 40 years in your job and will move six times, so pick a career that will serve you through six transitions.'"
Growing numbers of women are also picking accounting, and Barton said these graduates "move up quickly."
Ceria had no second thoughts about pursuing electronics. He was tired of human services, tired of the emotional energy it took.
"I was working so hard and didn't get compensated as well as I would as a technician," he said. "As a therapeutic aide I was making from $12.50 to $15 an hour. With my electronics degree, I start at $25 an hour."
For his future, and his baby's and 3-year-old daughter's, Ceria said that makes a big difference.
Reach Bev Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
