Ohio College Tech Prep: Stark County Consortium

Stark County Tech Prep

As we enter the 21st century, our state and national economies will need many more highly skilled technical workers. These important, good-paying jobs will require more than a high school education.

This means that many more young Americans will need to prepare to go to college - and particularly into the technical programs.

College Tech Prep is a new way of doing business in our high schools andcolleges. Its goal is to prepare young people for the growing number of high-tech jobs in the future.

College Tech Prep high school students:

Learn college preparatory academics in applied, real-world contexts that make the content more meaningful and accessible to them
Develop technological literacy, including the "new basics" of computer usage
In 11th and 12th grade, immerse themselves in the foundation occupational skills needed to enter and succeed in an associate degree program
Have the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school

At the end of high school, College Tech Prep graduates are ready to choose a technical major and enter an advanced skills associate degree program at a community or technical college or enter a baccalaureate program at a university.

In our area, the Stark County College Tech Prep Consortium partners Stark State College of Technology with all public school districts in Stark County. The consortium also has articulation agreements with 13 other colleges and universities.

The Consortium, which originated in 1992 with a federal College Tech Prep grant , is a dynamic initiative that continues to evolve and grow in terms of its district partnerships and scope of programming and has received state and national recognition for excellence in education. Students from all Consortium high schools are eligible to apply for admission to these high school programs on a tuition-free basis. Successful completion of the high school portion of this program presents the possibility of special consideration for entry into specific programs or classes at partner colleges.