What is Tech Prep?
Tech Prep is short for the
term "Technical Preparation". Tech Prep programs in your high school are designed
to help you better prepare for your life and your career, and is a confirmation
of work based learning through a combination of Career and Technical Education and
traditional academic courses.
Tech Prep is career
preparation for the real world.
Why is Tech Prep Needed?
Many young people leave school without the knowledge required to
find and keep a job. Today's employees require advanced technical skills due to
rapidly changing and emerging technologies.
Graduating from high school is no longer sufficient for entry
into the workplace. On average a person with an associate degree earns
$8,000 more per year than a person with a high school diploma, and $20,000 more than a
person without a high school diploma. Graduates without some type of workforce preparation will
find it increasingly difficult to get and keep better paying jobs.
Most jobs that offer career growth, challenging duties and the
opportunity to earn a good living require working knowledge. This means
you need to be able to apply what you have learned from your academic,
technical and information/communication courses to the work world.
The purpose of Tech Prep is to help you develop these skills.
How does Tech Prep Work?
Tech Prep works by combining secondary and post secondary
programs into one program that leads to a Certificate, Associate Degree, or if
practical, a Bachelors degree.
The Tech Prep program of study is
non-duplicative, ensuring that students enrolled in specific programs at SVCC,
and meeting certain criteria, do not have to
repeat course materials covered successfully in high school.* This is done by providing articulated as well as dual-enrollment credits for qualifying course work done in
high school.
Funding for this program is provided
by a grant from Tech
Prep in Virginia and funding by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and
Technical Act of 1998.
*Certain
guidelines and qualifications apply.
Click here for more information.
How does enrollment in Tech Prep help you?
- Tech Prep graduates enter the job
market sooner, with skills that earn higher wages
- Tech Prep students get credit for
college courses while still in high school
- Tech Prep graduates have the math,
science and English academic skills they need to get ahead in their career
- Tech Prep students save time and
money by getting simultaneous credit for high school and college courses
- A student-specific program of
studies leads to a smoother transition between high
school and college
- Tech Prep programs limit the repetition of
coursework leading to an advanced post-secondary certificate or degree at SVCC
Who can enroll in a Tech Prep Program?
Any qualifying
student enrolled in a high school or vocational center listed on the navigation
bar to the left can take advantage of the opportunities offered through Tech
Prep.
For information on Tech Prep Programs available in
your high school please click on the navigation bar to the left.
Career, Educational and Job Related Links:
Career
Job
College
Contact Information:
JoAnn Cage
Director, Southside Virginia Tech Prep Consortium
109 Campus Drive
Alberta, VA 23821
434-949-1011
joann.cage@southside.edu
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