A warehouse manager in Waco went from earning about $9 an hour to earning more than $140,000 a year, thanks to an associate degree.
In College Station, a student with a developmental disability worked at an animal hospital through a college program tailored to her needs.
And in Austin, a call center worker was paid by her employer to go to college so she could be promoted to a medical assistant position.
In these instances, the students pursued associate degrees, alternative college programs and industry certifications that offer Texans the chance to expand their career options and their salary potential in a state hungry for more qualified workers.
More than half of jobs in the state require a credential higher than a high school diploma but lower than a bachelor’s degree, according to a report from July 2022. It’s one reason the state is aiming for 60% of Texans ages 25 to 64 to have a certificate or degree by 2030. But just 45% of Texans have the right training for these middle-skilled jobs.
These college and career programs are far more varied than they used to be. Today, Texans across the state are learning everything from computer-aided design and drafting to piloting aircraft through associate degree or certificate programs — and they’ll likely make more money because of it.
Career and technical education
Initiatives helping students to enter the workforce quickly aren’t new, but there is a new focus on equity. To better serve students, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, higher education leaders are moving to create shorter or earlier career and technical education opportunities that meet industry standards while offering high school and college students with pathways to bachelor’s and advanced degrees.
This is a marked difference from the history of vocational programs, in which students of color and women were often placed into high school job training classes that offered no pathway to college.
A movement to help all students go to college emerged in the 1990s, said Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, a senior fellow at the National Skills Coalition, a policy and advocacy organization. But with increasing awareness of student debt in the 2000s and greater interest among students and employers in technical education, vocational programs reemerged and evolved into what is now known as career and technical education.
The rise of these programs partially stems from industries and jobs increasingly requiring specialized licenses or credentials, even if it’s not a college degree. For students, these programs are attractive because they allow them to get hands-on practice and, in some cases, paid work experience as they work toward a credential. This can be particularly beneficial for working adults or parents with less time and resources to seek a four-year degree, Bergson-Shilcock said.
Bachelor’s and more advanced degrees generally have a greater financial payoff, but people with two-year associate degrees and certificates in highly technical and in-demand fields, such as engineering technologies, can earn more than people with bachelor’s degrees in some lower-paying industries.
Texas has long invested in work-based education, but “that ramped up over the last couple of legislative sessions as the value of things like apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities became clear,” said Renzo Soto, a higher education policy adviser for Texas 2036, a nonprofit research organization.
Over the last decade, state lawmakers have largely emphasized career preparation in public schools and aligning school curriculum with college tracks and the workforce needs in each region of the state, Soto said.
During the regular legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed legislation to fund community colleges based on whether their students leave with a degree or credential that gets them a well-paying job or into a four-year institution. Right now, Texas State Technical College is the only Texas college that the state specifically funds based on the employment and earnings of its students and graduates, rather than based on the number of hours they are taught. The funding change is expected to go into effect in September.
Technical colleges and careers
In a room filled with rows of yellow robotic arms, students at TSTC’s Waco campus used computers to try to command the arms to read whether a black cutout in front of it was the right size and shape.
Manufacturers use such a process to ensure that the right bolt, screw or item is used to make a product. But this isn’t a factory. It’s a step toward high-paying jobs in manufacturing, production or warehouse operations.
More than two decades ago, Corey Mayo was a warehouse manager, earning about $9 an hour to support his wife and daughter.
“It just wasn’t cutting it for baby formula, diapers, food,” said Mayo, now 48.
So he enrolled at Texas State Technical College to study instrumentation and completed an associate degree in robotics. After more than a decade in the industry, traveling to manufacturing facilities to implement automated operations, he said he earned roughly $140,000 a year because of his ability to “fix anything in a short amount of time.”
“It’s because of everything that I learned here,” he said.
Now, as an instructor of robotics technology at TSTC, he’s helping other students enter a job that’s expected to grow by 12% in Texas while declining nationally.
And Mayo’s 23-year-old son, Dalton, is following in his footsteps and studying robotics technology. He too would like to enter a high-paying field.
Stories like theirs are not uncommon at the college, which hires instructors from its graduate pool and sees many families return to the college for its hands-on and fast-tracked programs. The 20-month-long program for an associate degree of applied science in robotics and industrial controls technology costs around $11,640, and a 16-month certificate costs $6,984, according to TSTC. The average wage for an electro-mechanic or robotics technician is about $50,630 in Texas and $60,570 in the U.S., according to federal data.
The college also offers programs for various job fields expected to continue growing, such as cybersecurity and aircraft pilot training.
The aircraft pilot training program is one of the college’s more expensive programs, but pilot pay is on the higher end with average salaries in Texas of more than $180,060 for airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers and $108,120 for commercial pilots. Tuition and fees for an associate degree in the program are $11,160, but the flight fees bring up the total to an estimated $89,260. Jobs are expected to grow by 21% for commercial pilots and by 14% for airline pilots and engineers in Texas.
The college also hires some of its graduates to serve as certified flight instructors while they work toward the required hours and ratings needed to work as a pilot in other roles.
“I’m already making back money and I’m already paying off my loans,” said Elaine Polster, a 22-year-old recent graduate who is now a certified flight instructor for the college. “If I went to a four-year school, it would be two more years until I did that.”
Associate degrees in applied science, which have a focus on technical education, and certificates are also available at community colleges across the state and through private, for-profit and nonprofit institutions. Examples of other public colleges include Alamo Colleges, Blinn College, San Jacinto College and Dallas College. You can find private technical schools through the Texas Workforce Commission’s directory. Financial aid, scholarships or other help may also be available for associate degrees and qualifying certificates.
You can also read more in our guide to college programs and financial aid.
Source: Texas Tribune BY MARÍA MÉNDEZ
Photo: Jule Preiser, a fourth-semester robotics student at Texas State Technical College in Waco, works on a troubleshooting assignment during class on Oct. 24, 2022. Students were given no specific instruction — much like how they might face a problem out in the field — and were tasked with finding a solution through their own problem-solving skills. Credit: Evan L’Roy/The Texas Tribune
