Fort Wayne Colleges and Trade Schools

 

Fort Wayne, Indiana is considered one of the best college towns in the state. Located in the northeastern region of Indiana, it is ideally situated west of the border to Ohio and South of the border to Michigan. With a growing population, roughly 260,326 as of the year 2015, Ft. Wayne is considered one of the most populous US cities. Many industries are bustling in the Fort Wayne area. Student enrollment in career training programs has jumped within the last few years.

 

Reasons to Consider Career Training in Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne has one of the largest public universities: Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) with student enrollment approaching 14,000 students. Community colleges such as Ivy Tech also provide a wide array of career training programs to gear students towards locally based jobs and futures. Fort Wayne also offers theological education from three primary private universities. Growing fields of interest and vocational training in Ft. Wayne include health and medicine, civil service, engineering, construction and manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, agri-processing, communications and defense, life and material sciences, airport development, transportation, financial services, and education. Students are able to obtain fast and accurate training for various employment goals in vocational and trade school programs ranging in duration from roughly one to four years.

Popular Career Niches in Fort Wayne

Healthcare opportunities are among the highest paying and most sought after training opportunities in Fort Wayne, Indiana. With six hospitals in the Fort Wayne area including Dupont Hospital, Lutheran Hospital of Indiana, Parkview Regional Medical Center, Parkview Hospital Randallia, Rehabilitation Hospital of Fort Wayne, and St. Joseph Hospital, integrating medical education into trade school curriculum is made fast and easy through many vocational and training schools in the area. Accreditation in the medical field serves many individuals of any age well no matter where they are situated. However, Fort Wayne, Indiana offers unique benefits for medical employees as the two main healthcare systems, Parkview Health System and Lutheran Health Network, have long been the cities to largest employers.

 

One of the second largest growing industries in Fort Wayne, Indiana is the utilities industry. This encompasses municipal services jobs such as water and sewage, natural gas, electricity, telecommunications and television. Many training programs give students towards careers working for some of the largest public and private utility providers in the Indiana area. Such top rated employers include the city of Fort Wayne itself, Frontier Communications and Comcast, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Indiana Michigan Power, Three Rivers water filtration plant and St. Joseph River.

 

Top industries in Fort Wayne, Indiana

 

Top industries include education, medicine, construction, civil service (government sponsored jobs), motor vehicles and telecommunication. Specific areas focused on by local trade schools include distribution and logistics, communications and defense, telecommunications, financial services, legal services, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, utilities and education. Curriculum from local trade schools provides graduates with accreditation in top rated fields considered highly desirable in the Fort Wayne area. Additionally, students will have a well-rounded understanding of the topics to hand with special emphasis placed on local application of the principles learned. For example, many Fort Wayne trade schools and universities help students with networking for employment after graduation and certification. Career services departments of trade schools help students network with the top employers in the state so that they may find themselves best situated for beginning or advancing their careers. Local trade schools stay attuned to the most up-to-date workplace trends on a local and national level.

 

Top Trade Schools in Fort Wayne

 

There are many highly rated community colleges, trade/vocational schools and four-year universities in the Fort Wayne area. Among the top providers of high quality, comprehensive and fast-paced career training programs are the following:

 

• Indiana Tech: founded in 1930, this for-profit private technical college offers a wide array of training programs and accommodates the needs of a very large student body. Total enrollment: 4,384, Undergraduate tuition and fees: 24,860 USD, grad rate 31.6%. In terms of academics, Indiana Tech provides students with excellent career opportunities you its College of business, College of professional studies, college of engineering and computer sciences, college of law and college of Gen. studies. Highly rated and located at 1600 E Washington Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46803.

 

• Medtech College - Fort Wayne Campus: the convenient location of this campus is among its biggest draws. Located off Interstate 69, students interested in pursuing healthcare related jobs have access to focused training within the Allen County location. Training areas include medical assistant, phlebotomy and medical billing and coding. These highly rated industries are growing not only in the Fort Wayne area but on a national level. Total enrollment: 498, Undergraduate tuition and fees: 14,781 USD, graduation rate is 72%, average salary after attending undergrad is: 31,100 USD. Average annual cost for students receiving federal aid: 22,138 USD. Located at 7230 Engle Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46804..

 

• Ivy Tech Community College-Northeast: founded in 1963, this vocational technical college has gone through many innovative changes to encompass over 150 programs. These programs range from health, University/transfer opportunities, technology and business/public services careers. Offering unique opportunities to students with existing credentials or out-of-state educational backgrounds, this university does more to accommodate students as they pursue new and interesting careers. Health care programs offered by the University include training in therapeutic massage, nursing, dental assisting and more. Technology programs encompass some of Fort Wayne's most in demand industries including automotive technology, welding, cyber security and more. Lastly, the College of business in public services provides students with the skill set necessary to go to work in desirable industries such as accounting, human services, hospitality administration and more. Total enrollment: 200,000, Undergraduate tuition and fees: In-state tuition: 3,354 USD (2011), Out-of-state tuition: 7,026 USD, grad rate 12.2%, Average salary after attending undergrad: 29,400 USD. Located at 3800 N Anthony Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46805.

 

• Ross Medical Education Center: this for-profit Allied health school has more than 35 locations across the state of Indiana and several others. Programs range from on-campus two online and specialize in vocational training for in demand fields including medical insurance billing and office administration, medical assistants, dental assistants, and pharmacy technicians. Undergraduate tuition and fees: 15,680 USD, graduation rate: 63.3%, Average salary after attending undergrad: 22,600 USD and average annual cost for students receiving federal aid: 18,626 USD. Located at 4122 Lima Rd A - 5, Fort Wayne, IN 46805.

 

• Brown Mackie College: founded in 1882, this college offers a wide array of flexible post secondary training programs that will award students certificates, associate degrees and bachelor's degrees. Geared specially towards helping students obtain local employment after graduation, Brown Mackie college offers training opportunities in business and technology, legal studies, nursing, health and wellness, and veterinary technology. Total enrollment: 8,000, undergraduate tuition and fees: 12,123 USD, graduation rate: 34.7%, average salary after attending undergrad: 27,400 USD and average annual cost for students receiving federal aid: 18,921 USD. Located at 3000 Coliseum Blvd E, Fort Wayne, IN 46805.

 

Housing Market and Rent Costs in Fort Wayne Indiana

 

Fort Wayne, Indiana has recently been named one of the hottest housing markets. Realtor.com cited Fort Wayne Indiana as a hub of successful home sales in the last year. Coldwell Banker named Fort Wayne, Indiana ‘housing market like never seen before.’ Considered the 10 hottest housing markets in the United States, one particular real estate agency in Fort Wayne saw a 14% spike in home sales over the course of only a month. One of the reasons homes are flying off the market in the area is due to a fair amount of flocking to this particular city of industry. As more college students and move away from overcrowded and highly popular cities, they find comfortable career niche is and profitable futures in areas that are still growing.

Looking at the home price to income ratio in Indiana, the Federal Housing Finance Agency gauged that as of June 2010, the price to income ratio in Indiana was 2.45. This means that the annual median household income needed to consider purchasing a home in the Fort Wayne area is becoming a more affordable and realistic goal after renting in the area and working for some time.

 

Similarly, the Federal Housing Finance Agency examined the price to rent ratio in Indiana. As of June 2010, the adjusted price to rent ratio was 15.57. The forecast model for the time one will likely spend renting property before owning a home in Fort Wayne is roughly 2 years. For graduates from successful career training programs in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, this means excellent long-term opportunities after successfully gaining employment in the area. The FHFA’s single-family housing sector projected stable growth of the housing industry as of the year 2015. With a positive forecasted growth path continuing through 2016, these factors bode well for the possibility of purchasing a single-family home. Similarly, the multifamily housing sector in Fort Wayne Indiana has had a continuous strong run.

 

Job Market Growth in Fort Wayne, Indiana

 

Job growth has been shown to be consistently improving along with the economic fundamentals of living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As the single-family housing market continues to remain positive, Fort Wayne has also shown a good trend as rates of unemployment continue to fall. As unemployment in Fort Wayne is at a 15 year low, economists project ‘full employment.’ The baby boomer generation accounts for a growth in the city’s overall population by 24%. As local economy is driven by natural change and not so much by migration, the average number of annually employed individuals has risen from 188,111 to 198,639. Fort Wayne is showing a clear transition to hire labor force participation and greater availability of work. With many individuals in highly rated positions approaching retirement age, new workers are in high demand to fill the gap in the labor force.

 

Top Employers and Top Wages in Fort Wayne, Indiana

 

As health care has led to the creation of many new jobs, average wages in the industry have risen by 0.5%. The salary rise in this particular career field is not the only industry projected to offer higher wages to qualified workers as time goes on. Some of the most profitable, in-demand career areas in the Fort Wayne area are as follows:

 

• Health Care and Social Services
• Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
• Educational Services
• Retail trade
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Wholesale trade
• Real estate and rental leasing
• Transportation and warehousing
• Professional, scientific and technical services
• Public services besides public administration
• Agriculture, fishing hunting and forestry
• Recreation, arts and entertainment
• Public administration
• Insurance and finance
• Information

Some of the city's top employers include:

• Parkview Health Systems
• Lutheran Health Network
• Fort Wayne Community Schools
• General Motors
• Lincoln Financial Group

 

Resources:

Department of Numbers. “Indiana Home Affordability.”. http://www.deptofnumbers.com/affordability/indiana/

Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Metro Chamber Alliance. “Economic Development- Major Employers.” 2016.
http://www.greaterfortwayneinc.com/economic-development/major-employers/

Indiana Business Review. “Labor Force Availability.”
http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2015/outlook/fortwayne.html