Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Automotive Mechanics
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Southwest Tennessee Community College, Nashville State, and Northeast State.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Nashville State, Southwest Tennessee Community College, Northeast State, and Southern Adventist University.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Southwest Tennessee Community College, Nashville State, and Southern Adventist University.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Nashville State, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Northeast State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Southern Adventist University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Southern Adventist University.
Excellence
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Southern Adventist University.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Tennessee State Tech/Tennessee State Community College • Nashville, TN
Studying Ford ASEP (completion in 2005)
• 12/16/2011
"For the cost vs. value, I cannot complain. The school was very educational and I have no issues acquiring a job with my degree."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Yes. For the cost, you cannot beat this school. I would recommend and have recommended this school. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | As far as I know, their standing in the community is good. I have had no issues when I tell an employer where I attended school when acquiring a job. |
| Program Quality | 6 | TNTC is a great school. The tuition is fair and the teachers are good. |
| Instruction | 6 | The teachers are well above average. They know their stuff when it comes to cars; they are all ex-mechanics themselves. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The course of study is about average, in my opinion. You learn both classroom and hands on. Hands on is obviously much easier. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Definitely more hands on for this program. I think some of the other programs are more book oriented, though, so I guess it depends on the program and on the instructor of the program. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | The options here are great. They offer weekend and evening options, summer offerings, and online options. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | I feel the resources are average or maybe a little better than average. Everything I needed was available on campus. |
| Social Life | 4 | I rated this a little below average, only because there were no sports teams. |
| Placement Services | 1 | The school's job placement and career services assistance in this school are pretty much nonexistent. However, it is not a big concern, as it is not an issue locating the dealerships and putting in an application. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | That is my one complaint; the alumni network and support is lacking to the point that it is nonexistent. |
Tennessee State Community College • Nashville, TN
Studying Ford ASEP (completion in 2005)
• 12/16/2011
"For the cost vs. value, I cannot complain. The school was very educational and I have no issues acquiring a job with my degree."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Yes. For the cost, you cannot beat this school. I and have and continue to recommend this school. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | As far as I know their standing in the community is good. I have had no issues when I tell an employer where I attended school in acquiring a job. |
| Program Quality | 6 | TNTC is a great school. The tuition is fair, and the teachers are good. |
| Instruction | 6 | The teachers are well above average. They know there stuff when it comes to cars, they are all ex-mechanics themselves. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The course of study is about average in my opinion. You learn both classroom, and hands on. Hands on is obviously much easier. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Definitely more hands on for this program. I think some of the other programs are more book oriented. So I guess it depends on the program and on the instructor. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | The options here are great. They offer all of the above: weekend and evening options, summer offerings, online options etc. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The resources are average. Maybe a little better than average. Everything I needed was available on campus. |
| Social Life | 4 | I rated this a little below average because there was no sports teams. |
| Placement Services | 1 | The school's job placement and career services assistance are pretty much non-existent. It is not an issue locating the dealerships and putting in an application. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | The alumni network and support is lacking to the point that it is non existent. |
Nashville Auto Diesel College • Nashville, TN
Studying Automotive And Diesel Technology (completion in 2009)
• 1/23/2012
"I enjoyed the experience and training I received. I enjoy my career and all the help the instructors gave me along the way."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | NADC is still one of the best schools in this field. I think they have the best plan to get people who want to be mechanics where they want to be. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | NADC was the top-rated mechanic school while I was there, and they did a good job. They are slowly falling due to Lincoln Tech's takeover, and they are removing quality and adding more students to increase their profit margin. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The instructors at the school were very good and informed. The school itself was remodeling while I was there and it caused some problems with some of my classes. |
| Instruction | 7 | The instructors were great and well informed. The way they schedule classes is a bit random and you end up with more advanced classes before you have a class that should be a prerequisite. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Some classes were pretty tough and made you work for your grades. Other classes were too easy and not a lot was learned on the subjects. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | One of the great things about the school is that it had a good mix of hands on and book training. You get to learn about things from the book and then go into a shop and do it. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | They offered both morning and evening classes. If you needed to move from morning classes to evening classes, you would mess up the rotation of your classes and sometimes end up having to sit out for weeks at a time waiting for a class to open up. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | They provided some computer access to training sites, such as Ford Training and Dana. They didn't offer much for ASE; everything that you got for that, you had to find and buy yourself. |
| Social Life | 2 | There were very few social activities, and as it was a 13-month school, no athletic programs existed. We did get to go on some trips, such as the Mid-America Trucking Show. |
| Placement Services | 5 | They help you write a resume and give you some decent job leads. They don't do very well with follow-ups on alumni. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | They have an alumni network to help you find job postings. Unfortunately, most of the jobs through the network are either far away or require a great deal of prior experience. |
Nashville Auto Diesel College • Nashville, TN
Studying Auto Diesel Technology; High Performance Engines (completion in 2001)
• 2/13/2012
"As far as education, you only get out of it what you put into it. I still used my books for reference and I still use my "starter" tool kit that all the students were quick to ridicule."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I attended both NADC and a UTI/CTG program, the NADC I attended was a lot better than UTI. However, based upon what my factory recruiter shared with me I would be hesitant to recommend the Lincoln tech version of NADC. It's a shame because I always wanted to take a year off to attend their auto body program. I would say that NADC still has the best diesel program compared to UTI and Wyotech. |
| Program Reputation | 2 | Industry perception (both first hand and word of mouth) of NADC is low now due to ownership by LTI. I have never heard anything positive about LTI or their standards. I've worked with alumni of LTI who were beyond excellent, but most are grossly incompetent. |
| Program Quality | 8 | The school that I went to provided basic knowledge of technology that ranged from the 40's through the 80's. They were lacking in 90's + curriculum and had no specific training for European (Bosch) standards. But they provided enough theory to get by. When I attended they were known as the best school in the US. However, the factory representative who recruited me said that since Lincoln Tech took over, the whole place has gone severely downhill. |
| Instruction | 8 | The good instructors were really good and knew how to teach beyond the book. The rest of them just regurgitated the supplied and somewhat dated material. Just like any other school. |
| How Difficult | 7 | It's hard to compare since I didn't attend any programs other than a UTI/CTG manufacturer specific school. It wasn't rocket science, but when you attend from 6:30 to 1 and work a full-time job it makes things challenging. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It depended on the instructor and the course. A lot also depended on your shop partners; it goes back to catering to the lowest common denominator. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | There were only two options. Day shift or night shift with various start dates throughout the year. I still managed to work 50+ per week/weekends. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | They were as good as could be considering the age of the school. The family that used to own the school was definitely not afraid to make investments and improvements. |
| Social Life | 10 | The socioeconomic status was very diverse and everyone got along. It also helped that the school had strict conduct policies. |
| Placement Services | 3 | It was poor when I was attending, and even worse when I tried using them last year. I don't expect them to do all the work, but they seem think that $9.25 per hour at Caterpillar is great after you just paid 20k for 11 months. If you held the advertisements/recruiters statements word for word it would be considered "bait and switch." |
| Alumni Network | 1 | There is none. Their website is pathetic and just leads you to nothing but recruitment forms. I'd be happy if I could just get a window sticker of the school's old crest. |
Nashville Auto Diesel College • Nashville, TN
Studying Automotive And Diesel Repair Technology (completion in 2003)
• 3/7/2012
"It was more than I expected. I was very happy with the education I received and would do it again if I had the chance."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It is a great school with a good curriculum and great instructors. I believe that many others can benefit from the experience of learning from them. For anyone who is looking to pursue a career in the automotive field, I would definitely suggest they check out NADC. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I don't hear much about NADC due to my distance from the school, and the fact that there are two automotive schools between Michigan and Nashville. I'm kind of biased. |
| Program Quality | 10 | I enjoyed going to school at NADC. I learned a great many things that have given me a huge jump start to my career. |
| Instruction | 10 | I learned a base knowledge of automotive and diesel repair that has given me enough to go on and build from to advance myself. I was able to get a good handle on trouble shooting and system operations detrimental to doing my job. |
| How Difficult | 5 | It wasn't extremely difficult. It wasn't ridiculously easy either. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There is more hands on than book learning. That makes it very easy to learn and retain the things learned. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Not much on flexibility. There are only a couple of options, but they are easy to work with. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The training aids were excellent. Facilities were more than adequate. Instructors were great and very knowledgeable. |
| Social Life | 10 | You get to meet people from all walks of life. The best part is you all share a similar passion. |
| Placement Services | 9 | They have job placement assistance for students and alumni. They have an office dedicated to just that. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | Alumni are able to retake courses for free, unless they were not offered at the time they went. If that's the case, you can still take them at a discounted rate. All alumni are also welcome to attend any job fairs held at or by the school. There are many online tools that are available to alumni as well. |
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