Ventura Adult and Continuing Education (VACE) — Local services in Ventura

Last November I started in the Computerized Financial Accounting (CFA) program at Ventura Adult and Continuing Education (VACE). A couple of months previous to that, my sister had suggested I get Quickbooks certified because "Not that many people need a drummer, but almost everyone needs an accountant."

My sister knew that I am one of those weirdos that takes a little too much pleasure in working with numbers. She knows that one of my side jobs over the years has been bookkeeping and getting business owners caught up with their transaction postings and bank reconciliations. Our father was a CPA to boot.

So I started looking for a Quickbooks-certification class and soon came across the CFA program at VACE. At 26 weeks of full-time school, it would require a lot more work than a weekend class to get a Quickbooks certification. (The VACE Quickbooks class alone was 60 hours, plus a 30 hour QB's simulation taking a corporation all the way through a fiscal period.) However, the thought of having a solid understanding of accounting theory, knowing what is really going on behind the scenes in Quickbooks, being able to understand and generate financial statements and process payroll, as well as learning and implementing Excel, excited me in that weird way only numbers people can relate to.

So I jumped in head first, gave it my all, and completed the program last week. I am very pleased with the program, the school, the faculty, and the solid accounting foundation I now have. I also made some great friends, several who were in other programs VACE offers.

Most of all, I am very excited at the prospects of utilizing the deeper accounting knowledge and the updated...

Recent graduate in Business Administration & Management and Computerized Financial Accounting. VACE has provided me with the opportunity to explore and commence a new career. My experience, the moment I stepped into the campus, was immediately satisfying and impressive. The front staff were and are very welcoming and informative. All my questions and concerns were answered making it very easy to make a decision to become a member of the VACE family. In addition, my instructors, Claudia Young and Karl Akkerman, have been delightful and amazing instructors. Both provided great value in my studies, such as, instructional courses, work life lessons, opportunity to give back to the community, network, and many business challenging lessons.

Furthermore, immediately after graduating I continued to be given support in my career search. The job placement counselor, Kay Miller, as been an amazing counselor. She is always in great spirits and very motivated to help the students at VACE. She is very pleasant to work with.

I highly recommend this school to whomever is searching or changing career. You will be given the opportunity to gain the necessary skills to achieve your goals. Very proud to be part of the VACE family, as well as, an ambassador. Give them a visit when you are ready to make a change in...

I love attending VACE. The whole process has been amazing. The office staff helped me to get the ball rolling and I was able to get a Pell Grant to pay for my program. The teachers are all so helpful!! They really want you to succeed and are available and so knowledgeable in their fields. I procrastinated on going back to school because I hadn’t been a student for decades but now that I’m here I wish I would’ve started sooner! There are so many services and events through the school for advancement and professional networking. If you’re even considering going back to school I would definitely speak with a...