HVAC Technical School Santa Fe NM

How to Enroll In the Right Heating and Cooling School near Santa Fe New Mexico

air conditioner condensers in Santa Fe NM Once you have decided on a career as a heating and air conditioner professional, the next step is to look for an HVAC trade school near Santa Fe NM. But with so many to pick from, how do you select the best one to obtain the training that you require? Some potential students will make their decision based exclusively on the price of tuition or how close the school is to their residence. Although these are significant factors to consider, they are not the only ones to take into account. Just some of the other details that you need to investigate are the graduation rates of the HVAC schools, their reputations, and if they are accredited by professional trade organizations. Those and additional benchmarks will be addressed in more detail later in this article. But before we tackle how to pick an HVAC technical school, let’s look at what a heating and air conditioning professional does to become a licensed professional tradesman.

How to Become an HVAC Professional

Santa Fe NM HVAC Tech installing water heater HVAC is an acronym that is widely used in the trade that stands for “Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning”. HVAC professionals provide services for the installation, maintenance and repair of air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, water heaters and heating systems. As skilled tradesmen, they are typically required to be licensed, although every state and local municipality has its own prerequisites. Acquiring professional certification is not required, but a voluntary means for Santa Fe NM HVAC techs to prove that they are highly skilled and accomplished in their area of expertise. There are a number of acknowledged certifications within the industry that are available. Here are a few of the important ones.

North American Technician Excellence (NATE). NATE is a nationally acknowledged certification for HVAC technicians. The certification is achieved by passing a proficiency exam and can be earned in one or more specialties.
HVAC Excellence. This certification offers both a professional and a master specialist credential. 2 years of professional experience in addition to passing a comprehensive exam are required for the professional level certification. Master specialists need to have three years of experience along with a passing score on the professional level exam. As with NATE, certifications are made available in multiple specialties.
EPA Section 608. This certification is mandatory for specialists that handle refrigerants. There are 3 types of certification available, one for small appliances, and the other two for low and high pressure refrigerants.

Considering that licensing may be mandated in your location, and you may also intend to earn certification, it’s important that you pick an HVAC vocational school that will train you for both. And since you will more than likely be working with refrigerants, make sure that the school you choose readies you for passing the EPA Section 608 examinations.

HVAC Certificate and Degree Training Programs

radiator heater in Santa Fe NM home There are several choices offered for HVAC instruction in a technical or trade school. You can earn a certificate, an Associate Degree, or a Bachelor’s Degree. Acquiring a certificate will take the minimum period of time, often achieved in as little as six months, although some programs are longer. A certificate will train you for the majority of HVAC positions, particularly if you are licensed and have certification applicable to the position. The degree programs may provide a competitive advantage for securing employment and will furnish more extensive training than the certificate programs. Following is a short summary of each credential offered near Santa Fe NM.

Certificate. Usually requiring a high school diploma, certificate programs are preferred among beginning residential or commercial HVAC technicians. They furnish a strong foundation of skills for employment within the trade.
Associate Degree. The Associate Degree in HVAC program supplies a more exhaustive understanding of heating and a/c systems than the certificate program. Generally taking two years to finish, many degrees incorporate an internship or work-study program.
Bachelor’s Degree. The Bachelor’s Degree in HVAC is tailored more towards a career in management as well as business ownership. Some programs require an Associate Degree, while others are a traditional 4 year program. In addition to being taught how to service and maintain heating and air conditioning systems, you will also learn how to design them.

Selecting the ideal credential program will be based on what your future career goals are, in addition to the time and financial resources that you have to commit. One possibility is to start with a certificate or perhaps an Associate Degree program, and after getting some experience in the field in Santa Fe NM, subsequently returning to earn a Bachelor’s Degree. If this is your approach, make certain to ask the HVAC technician school you are looking at about how their returning student program works.

HVAC Training Online

Santa Fe NM student attending HVAC school online Choosing an HVAC school online is one possibility to obtaining your training and earning a degree or certificate. Almost all schools will require some attendance on campus to participate in hands on training. Many also provide internship or work-study programs in addition to or as an alternative to practical lab work. But since the balance of the classes can be participated in via the internet, this alternative may be a more convenient solution for many Santa Fe NM students that are short on time. And a number of online degree programs are less costly than other on campus choices. Even driving expenses from Santa Fe and study materials can be reduced, helping to make education more economical. And numerous online schools are fully accredited (more on this later). So if your work or family obligations have left you with little time to attend classes, perhaps an HVAC online training program will make it less complicated to accommodate school into your active schedule.

What to Ask HVAC Trade Schools

Questions to ask Santa Fe NM HVAC training schools As soon as you have selected the type of degree or certificate that you wish to earn, either on campus or online, you can begin to narrow down your list of schools. As you are no doubt aware, there are many HVAC technical schools in the Santa Fe NM area and all over the Country to choose from. That’s why it is very important to have a checklist of key qualifiers when making school assessments. As previously stated in our opening paragraph, tuition and location will undoubtedly be the initial 2 variables you will consider. Following are some additional ones that you will want to explore before enrolling in your school of choice.

Accreditation. A large number of HVAC technical schools in the Santa Fe NM area have acquired either a regional or a national accreditation. They may receive Institutional Accreditation, which involves the school’s programs as a whole, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to a specific program, for example HVAC technology. Verify that the school and program are accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Along with helping ensure that you obtain an excellent education, it can assist in acquiring financial aid or student loans, which are in many cases not available for non-accredited programs. Additionally, a number of states mandate that the HVAC training program be accredited for it to qualify for licensing.

High Completion Rates. Ask the Heating and Air Conditioning schools you are considering what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students who enroll in and complete the course. A lower completion rate might indicate that students were unhappy with the course and quit. It could also indicate that the teachers were not competent to train the students. It’s similarly important that the schools have higher job placement rates. Older and/or more reputable schools may have a broader directory of alumni, which can produce more contacts for the school to utilize for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate will not only affirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the trade, but also that it has the network of Santa Fe NM HVAC employers to assist grads obtain apprenticeships or employment.

Apprenticeship Programs. Most HVAC training programs are taught together with an apprenticeship or an internship program. Those participating vocational and trade programs will help place you in an apprenticeship program inside their network of Heating and Cooling companies or labor unions. Ask if the schools you are reviewing have referring relationships with local Santa Fe NM HVAC companies. An apprenticeship not only offers a valuable experience by furnishing hands-on training, but it also supplies employment opportunities and helps to form relationships in the area HVAC professional community.

Modern Facilities. Confirm that the campus facilities and the equipment that you will be instructed on are up-to-date and what you will be using in the field. If you are already in an internship or an apprenticeship, talk to the HVAC specialist you are working under regarding what you should be looking for. If not, ask a local Santa Fe NM HVAC company if they can give you some pointers. Additionally bear in mind that unless you can move, the school must be within driving distance of your Santa Fe NM home. Remember that if you decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides the added moving costs there can be increased tuition charges compared to in-state residents.

Smaller Classes. It’s desirable that you receive as much personalized instruction as possible, which can be challenging in bigger classes. Ask if you can monitor some of the classes so that you can see how large they are and experience the interaction between students and teachers. Talk to a few of the students and get their feedback regarding class sizes and instruction. Finally, speak with a few of the instructors and learn what their level of expertise is and what degrees or certifications they have earned.

Flexible Scheduling. Make sure that the class schedules for the schools you are evaluating are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you are only able to go to classes in the evening or on weekends near Santa Fe NM, confirm that the programs you are looking at offer those choices. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, be sure that the school you select permits part-time enrollment. Also, check out what the policy is to make-up classes should you miss any because of work, illness or family responsibilities.

Considering an HVAC School near Santa Fe NM?

Perhaps you are considering enrolling in an HVAC training program in the Santa Fe New Mexico area. If so, you may find the following background information about the location of your new school campus both interesting and informative.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe (/ˌsæntəˈfeɪ/ or /ˈsæntəˌfeɪ/; Tewa: Oghá P'o'oge, Navajo: Yootó) is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and the seat of Santa Fe County.

This area was occupied for at least several thousand years by indigenous peoples who built villages several hundred years ago, on the current site of the city. It was known by the Tewa inhabitants as Ogha Po'oge ("White Shell Water Place").[4] The city of Santa Fe, founded by Spanish colonists in 1610, is the oldest state capital in the United States. Santa Fe (meaning "holy faith" in Spanish) had a population of 69,204 in 2012. It is the principal city of a Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Santa Fe County and is part of the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. The city's full name as founded remains La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís ("The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi").[5][6]

Before European colonization of the Americas, the area Santa Fe occupied between 900 CE and the 1500s was known to the Tewa peoples as Oghá P'o'oge ("White Shell Water Place") and by the Navajo people as Yootó.[7] In 1610, Juan de Oñate established the area as Santa Fe de Nuevo México–a province of New Spain.[7] Formal Spanish settlements were developed leading the colonial governor Pedro de Peralta to rename the area La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís (the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi).[7] The phrase "Santa Fe" is translated as "Holy Faith" in Spanish. Although more commonly known as Santa Fe, the city's full, legal name remains to this day as La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís.[7]

Enrolling in the right HVAC school course is an important first step toward a gratifying career in the heating & cooling field. You originally came to this website because you wanted more information regarding HVAC Technical School. However, as we have discussed in this post, you need to select an Heating and Cooling school and a degree or certificate program that are both accredited and have outstanding reputations within the HVAC profession. Other features to look for are lots of hands-on training and modern facilities. You should go to each of the schools in person that you are most interested in to inspect the campus and speak with both the current students and faculty. Attempt to get a feel for the quality of the teaching and the interaction between them. Additionally, inquire about scheduling choices and whether or not night or weekend classes are offered if needed. And remember to inquire about financial aid and student loan options as well. If you ask the proper questions as we have detailed in our checklist for evaluating schools, you’ll be able to narrow down your options so that you can make an informed decision. With the right training, hard work and dedication, you can eventually become a licensed HVAC professional in Santa Fe NM.