Technical Colleges as Pipelines to a University Degree

This innovative practice paper presents the development and progress of a unique pathway to an academic degree. The pathway begins at a technical college that grants technical competency certificates and extends through degrees from a public research university. Recent reports confirm that while technical and community colleges are commonly a less costly educational alternative to four-year universities, for those who want to continue their education toward a bachelor's degree or beyond, students often encounter unexpected hurdles. Transferring courses not just for bulk credit hours toward graduation, but also to satisfy major course requirements, often goes differently than students would wish. For various reasons, transfer credit is disallowed towards degree requirements. In such a case, student work cannot effectively be applied toward a university degree unless provisions are made. This has been the case for Utah's public technical colleges. These eight geographically dispersed schools work closely with nearby high schools and with nontraditional students in their communities to provide vocational training in many fields, including Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Manufacturing and Robotics. Their vocational orientation has resulted in schools emphasizing competency-based certificates instead of hours in the classroom. Students emerging from these programs are well prepared to enter the technical workforce, but have not had an easy path for further education. About a decade ago employers expressed a desire for these technical professionals to be able to improve their capabilities beyond entry level jobs into more senior positions. The state legislature responded to these demands, mandating that a pathway be provided for students in select areas of study at the technical colleges to allow them to continue academic studies at Utah State University (USU), a public, research-intensive institution. In addition to the roles commonly associated with such a university, as a land-grant school, Utah State prioritizes statewide outreach into underserved areas. Since these are some of the same communities served by the state technical colleges, when needs for education beyond technical college certificates were recognized, USU was able to step into this role. Notably, it reaches underserved populations including first-generation students, rural residents, and Native Americans. As a result, USU has instituted a bachelor's degree in Technology Systems with various emphases designed to use certificates from technical colleges as lower-division technical prerequisites.