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Tech Prep: The Other Right Choice
With so many changes and new opportunities in the workplace, the good news for parents and students is that school is changing, too, in order to keep up. Tech Prep (PREParation for the TECHnologies) is an exciting program in high schools in our area, and all over the country, that prepares students to be successful in mid-level technology careers. Depending on your child’s career goals, in high school he will have the opportunity to choose between a two-year College Prep (Tech Prep) pathway and a four-year College Prep pathway.
If he chooses the Tech Prep pathway, he will take a sequenced, integrated program of academic and occupational courses preparing him to begin a rewarding career in mid-level technology fields--the types of positions for which a high school diploma with occupational training up to and including a career associate degree is required for entry and/or advancement. Tech Prep includes rigorous academic study, enhanced and focused occupational coursework, and structured work-based learning experiences throughout high school and up to two years of postsecondary education.
Tech Prep targets students who are interested in high wage/high skill technology careers. Tech Prep provides an important, viable, alternative for students who do not desire to enter a four-year bachelor’s degree program immediately after high school, while also providing a pathway to a bachelor’s degree after completion of an associate degree. For example, your child’s immediate goal may be to become a medical lab technician in a hospital. After experiencing success in her studies and seeing broader possibilities, she may decide to expand her horizons and build on her medical-related background. New and expanding transfer opportunities for career associate degree graduates provide pathways to bachelor’s degrees in human resource management, training and development, and other areas where students can build on their technical specialty at the senior college level. As a Tech Prep student, your child can “ladder” her education, providing great career options and earning potential all along the way!
Tech Prep also enables academically gifted students interested in mid-level technology careers to participate while completing baccalaureate admission requirements and advanced academics. And, because Tech Prep emphasizes strong academic as well as occupational study, high school students in traditional vocational education programs are also considered Tech Prep students.
Another component of Tech Prep is the opportunity for high school students to earn college credit toward specific career associate degree programs at Tri-County Technical College. Some high school courses, especially those in occupational and technical areas, may enable students to gain skills and knowledge equivalent to what’s required in entry-level courses at Tri-County Technical College. There is no need for students to repeat content they have already learned! Through the Technical Advanced Placement (TAP) process, students are allowed to earn advanced standing at the College.
The Partnership for Academic and Career Education (PACE) is the Tech Prep/School-to-Work consortium for Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties of South Carolina. To view the PACE website and to read more about Tech Prep/School-to-Work, click below and then click on College Partnerships: http://www.tctc.edu/pace.html | 
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