Photoshop classes and certificates for veterans

If you are a veteran, a service member preparing to return to civilian life, or the partner/dependent of a veteran, government programs, including the Forever GI Bill®, can help you pay for professional skills training that can help you achieve success in a new career. Use your Chapter 33 benefits to pivot into a high‑demand creative career. Read on to learn about the different options available to you for learning graphic design skills with the assistance provided by the US government.

Overview of common veteran benefits

• Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33): Offers up to 36 months of support, which can include tuition coverage, a monthly housing allowance, funds for books and supplies, and potential Yellow Ribbon Program contributions. 
• Veteran Readiness & Employment (Chapter 31): May provide up to 48 months of benefits, covering tuition, educational materials, and a monthly subsistence allowance.
• Survivors’ and Dependents’ Assistance (Chapter 35): Available to eligible spouses and children of qualifying service members.
• Payment Options: Some benefits are paid to the training provider, while others, like housing stipends, are paid directly to you.
• Eligibility Varies: Each program has specific service and discharge requirements; check with the VA or use the GI Bill Comparison Tool for personalized guidance.

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Why learning Photoshop is a smart post-service career move

The most obvious reason to pursue professional training in graphic design (which encompasses Photoshop training as well as training in applications such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign) is to qualify for a high-paying career upon returning to civilian life. In the US, the average salary for a graphic design professional sits at around $60,000 a year, though this is going to vary based on where you find work. These jobs are in high demand, as there is no shortage of need for creative professionals who can help new and established businesses and institutions create new, rhetorical, persuasive visual designs and content. As long as visual communication is an important aspect of life, skilled graphic designers will find that they are in high demand in a wide range of different industries.

Any business that markets to the public needs visual content. They will hire skilled designers to meet that need, so jobs stay plentiful. Commercial and retail businesses will employ graphic designers to handle everything from creating product packaging and branded merchandise to ad campaigns (traditional and digital). Beyond this, institutions, nonprofits, government agencies, political campaigns, and even the armed forces themselves utilize graphic design as a tool for communicating with a large-scale audience, particularly when they are aiming to be persuasive and develop an identity that can help them achieve their goals.

Learning graphic design can also be a way to help develop your own creative skills and projects. While all of the approved training programs are primarily career-focused, entering a creative career will give you more time and energy to practice and develop your creative voice. If you are looking for the opportunity to make art, whether it is heavily digital or in a traditional medium, learning tools like Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator will help improve your overall skill set and give you access to more design tools for your personal projects. Plus, once you’ve completed one of these programs, you’ll be qualified for a job in a field connected to your artistic passion, which can make the process even more enjoyable.

What support options are there for veterans to learn Photoshop?

Veterans have the opportunity to receive tuition, material, and even housing support for approved training programs that provide veterans with career-focused support. These classes are intended to provide students with targeted graphic design training in applications like Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator with the goal of having students leave the program career-ready and with the materials and confidence they need to enter the job market. All of these courses have been thoroughly vetted by the VA to ensure that they are providing students with the skills and support they need to find work upon graduation. In fact, approved schools need to resubmit their approval every other year to demonstrate that they are still having success placing students in high-paying jobs and that they have updated their curriculum to account for changes in the industry (for example, accounting for the way that Adobe has begun integrating AI functionalities into the current versions of the Creative Cloud tools). These support services are ideal for veterans looking to return to civilian life with the support of approved professional development training programs with proven track records of success for veterans. 

It’s important to reach out to your assigned VA counselor if you’re considering using your benefits to pursue Photoshop training. This is because each type of benefit has specific guidelines that determine which programs are covered and if you’ll be eligible for additional coverage of housing or supplies. For example, some Photoshop certificate programs may be covered by VA benefits but will have requirements like attending a portion in person or maintaining a full-time schedule. 

Since these are career-focused programs, you can also expect that each school will offer some variety of support services aimed at assisting students in finding jobs once they graduate. These can range from dedicated job placement services to one-on-one career mentoring to networking seminars with alumni. Obviously, these support services are going to differ between training providers, so it is useful to put in the time to research your options to find the one that will best serve your long-term goals. You should also double-check and consult with the VA to determine the level of support you qualify for since many of the VA-approved programs will not be fully covered by Chapter 33 benefits.