Trade or vocational schools teach job-specific skills but are structured much the way colleges and universities are. Both are primarily postsecondary institutions.
Most trade schools are private institutions but there are public trade schools that operate under the direction of government entities or public school districts. Some trade schools are accredited, while others are not.
Trade schools are not only available in the United States but worldwide. Other countries, such as Germany, Japan, Ireland and Canada, all have their own versions of trade or vocational schools.
In recent years other institutions, such as community colleges, have begun to offer trade or vocational courses, making such learning more easily accessible.
Caltech, the California Institute of Technology, which ranks number two on Global University Ranking's top postsecondary schools of learning, was originally founded as a vocational school in 1891.