• Electricians can learn energy efficiency, green building and other new skills at college.electrician image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
  
  Maintaining trade standards used to depend strictly on union training and technical school classes. Part of 2009's federal recovery funding recognized the need for up-to-date professionals, especially in an economy that was going increasingly green.
  
  Electricians who wish to update their skills are headed back to college, along with high-school grads and everyone else who wants the tools needed to meet new green standards and advance in their trades. Courses are more affordable than those at private schools, either in tuition costs or with the help of financial aid. Furthermore, courses are often scheduled after work or on weekends. Check out community college offerings to become part of the recovering--and greening--economy.
  
  

Check Out the Community System

• Your local community college may disappoint you: They have a full spectrum of courses for health-care professionals but little for the building trades. Usually, your local community college is part of a larger city, county or state university system, and courses are consolidated at particular locations within the system, depending on the quality of facilities available and the perceived employment needs of the area. This may mean you are driving to school outside your own community--but the trip will be worth it.
  
  

Look Hard at Financial Aid

• For older students or those who once paid privately for college courses, applying for financial aid may feel like a sign of failure. Not so these days; the majority of students both starting and returning to school at the community college level receive financial aid. Your employer, union and local U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Development Office may have resources beyond those available through the college financial office. You may be pleasantly surprised at the support available to help you improve your skills.
  
  

Look at the Larger Career Picture

• Improving and updating electrical skills may be exactly what you want and need, and you may choose to end your college experience with a certificate that acknowledges your achievements. As energy-related standards, needs and strategies change, so may your career goals. In addition to courses speaking directly to your needs, community colleges offer courses on wind and solar energy. Construction courses emphasize energy efficiency and the LEED standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. As the economy changes, so will your place in it. Community colleges may offer exactly the path you need to pursue to enhance your career overall.