College of Technology - Building Unlimited Career Opportunities
Tech Prep in Idaho supports the mission of the Idaho Division of Professional-Technical Education by providing an equal opportunity for all students to follow a plan of study connecting high school and college courses which will lead to successful performance in a highly effective workplace.
Preparing students for college and the future through outstanding high school programs.
Tech Prep is a combined effort between high schools and professional-technical colleges to provide students with a seamless education that will lead them to the development of a high level of technical career skills. This is done through career guidance activities in the secondary school and through articulation agreements between secondary and postsecondary programs where students can accumulate college credits before they leave high school.
In 1950, 20% of the jobs available required technical training. Today 65% of the jobs require a high level of skills requiring technical training. Opportunities for four-year college degrees have not increased over this time.
Approximately 80 percent of all jobs in the future will require academic excellence in oral and written communication skills and a high level of understanding of physical, mathematical, and scientific processes. This will require students to think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively, and work as members of a team. Tech Prep allows students to begin this process before they exit high school. Having begun their college coursework before they leave high school, students have the option of a shortened period of training for a technical career, or the time to take courses to enhance their skills.
Creating advantages for Idaho communities.
In each geographic region in Idaho, there is a special focus on careers related to existing job opportunities and projected labor market needs in the region's communities. Regional employer and community members meet with educators to provide technical skill information at the beginning of Tech Prep curriculum development. Exchange between business/industry and schools works to connect the learning in schools to the real career world.
