This broadens the need for continuing education beyond getting and keeping a job to boning up for an entirely new career. Nontraditional Sites and Schedules Continuing education is about location, location, and location. More than half of adult part-time students surveyed by The College Board in 1986 reported that location was the primary factor influencing their choice of institution. Another 18 percent ranked it second. Academic institutions have responded to the convenience factor by opening up centers in office buildings near students' jobs and homes.
Some educators get even closer to students.
In California's Silicon Valley, high-tech workers spend long hours at their workstations. They are in constant need of upgraded skills, yet few have time to fight traffic across the valley to a college or university. But if they work for National Semiconductor in Sunnyvale, their courses are no further away than an on-site education center called, appropriately enough, National Semiconductor University. Santa Clara University is among the institutions that provide faculty and course materials. They're taking advantage of local suppliers.