I think LG Electronics Inc. is thinking forward. As they hope to merge technologies in the future, they are also already merging the college education system and the trade school system.
It’s refreshing to see a company take an initiative that seems to be so beneficial for all involved, especially one that helps to secure a tangible career after education. So often I hear stories of people who graduated from college only to be met with the challenge of actually being hired because a degree does not always directly translate to the specifics of a prospective job.
For this reason I have respected the trade school system for its high success rate of students going onto steady careers while at the same time I lament that I would not want to give up the wider range of academic courses I can only get in college.
That being said, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics in 2015, a technical school graduate typically finishes school in two years and makes an average annual salary of $35,720, while a Bachelor’s degree graduate finishes school in four years and makes an average annual salary of $46,900.
While a technical student may appear to make less, the NCES also states that one year of college typically costs about $70,000 so a Bachelor degree student would already be an extra $140,000 in debt compared to a tech school graduate.
I hope to that this venture proves successful for Los Medanos College and LG because it could spur other companies to follow suit and provide the students at LMC, or perhaps even other community colleges, more choice in whatever they choose to pursue. Be it higher education or a more seamless transition into the workforce, this partnership between LMC and LG provides more opportunity and direction than either one system does alone.
LG is also keenly aware of the added bonus that if this pursuit proves as successful as they hope, the LG brand could become synonymous with LMC students for starters.
Brand loyalty goes a long way in the competitive technology industry and college students are often the most loyal of any brand carriers. In any case, the least we can do as students is take advantage of our school’s new partnership with LG and see what we can get out of it.

— Jose Pantoja