Governor Herbert recently announced 2018 as the Year of Technical Education. This announcement came on the heels of the Governor’s announcement of a new IT Education Pathway in Utah.
Under Governor Herbert’s ‘Talent Ready Utah,’ initiative, leaders from the Governor’s Office, Utah’s State Board of Education, System of Higher Education, and System of Technical Colleges have joined with economic development and workforce principals to explore meaningful pathways and curriculum development. This unprecedented partnership has expanded the dialogue among those who play a direct role in supporting Utah’s economic engine.The Utah System of Higher Education plays an important role in technical education – providing almost ¾ of all technical education in the state.
A newly-published annual issue brief highlights the breadth USHE’s technical education across the state – providing a $130M ROI to the state’s economy in increased wages. On the cost side, USHE technical education programs are among the most efficient in the state, coinciding with the state’s long-standing reputation for low tuition among all colleges and universities.
In 2018, USHE is working closely with USTC and K-12 to dramatically raise the visibility of technical education. With the state’s white hot economy and continuing growth in student populations, Utah is uniquely positioned to continue to lead the country in economic growth. However, that trajectory hinges on the state’s ability to provide the needed talent for fast growing business sectors like IT and healthcare. Tech Ed is a primary solution.
The Year of Technical Education is going to focus on key initiatives to make tech. ed. programs more accessible to students, strengthen partnerships with industry and across education agencies, and improve the stackability/transferability of training. David Buhler, Commissioner of Higher Education and Dave Woolstenhulme, Commissioner of Technical Education recently presented the upcoming initiatives to the Governor’s Education Excellence Commission – emphasizing the need to combine efforts, and capitalize on the coming year to launch sustained long-term solutions for technical education.
Access the Full Report on Technical Education
