One of the major disadvantages of some technical schools is the specific nature of the instruction they provide. Rather than encouraging students to select courses from a wide variety of subject areas, technical schools offer a limited range of classes and may require students to stay within a single department or subject area for the duration of their enrollment.
While this policy can help students to develop mastery of a single subject, it can also prevent them from experiencing related techniques or subjects. In addition, specific instruction in a highly technical field may not account for emerging technologies and leave students with skills that will soon be obsolete in the marketplace.
Another potential drawback at a technical school is the level of knowledge and teaching skills of the instructors. Teachers may be chosen because of their skills in a given field rather than any teaching credentials or instructional skills that allow them to communicate their knowledge to students. For-profit technical schools may also hire popular practitioners in a field to increase enrollment or lend credibility to the program despite the instructor's lack of teaching experience.
Cost is a significant disadvantage of technical schools for some students. This is especially true of for-profit schools, which may offer the same level of instruction in the same subject areas as a local community college, but at a much higher tuition rate. Technical schools that operate for profit also generally spend a great deal on publicity, leaving them with less money to build and maintain classroom facilities, hire knowledgeable instructors and provide career counseling services for students and recent graduates.
Technical schools also demonstrate their cost disadvantage compared to apprenticeship programs and on-the-job training, which give workers the chance to learn as they earn a wage rather than paying for classroom instruction.