After spending 30+ years teaching auto mechanics at the state trade school and high school level, I have some definite opinions about trade education. A lot of the state programs are "last chance education"- - - - -trying to give people some entry level trade skills before they have to go on some sort of welfare program for the rest of their lives. High school- - - -"trade and industrial education"- - - -now known as "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing) is where the counselors used to shove the special ed kids and others who couldn't handle the "college prep" curriculum. Most of those "counselors" would starve to death if they ever had to leave public education. They have NO skills that qualify them to make a living other than sucking up public dollars.
One of the best auto mechanics schools in the country used to be Nashville Auto-Diesel College. Unfortunately, the third generation of the family that founded the school sold it, and the new owners have pretty much gutted the program and replaced it with a very much inferior one. Wyotech and Universal Tech are absolutely worthless. General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Mercedes have excellent factory-based technician training programs, but they're brand-specific.
