Soon, students interested in the type of career technical training offered at Lorenzo Walker Technical College and Immokalee Technical College will be able to do so under one accredited entity: Collier County Technical College.
The transition is in the works, said Carlos Artime, executive director of career and technical education, secondary, post-secondary and adult and community education programs at Collier County Public Schools.
It comes just in time.
Trade school enrollment is on the rise, increasing 4.9% from 2020 to 2023, as university enrollment during the same period declined 0.6%, according to a November report by education marketing firm Validated Insights.
This trend reflects a growing awareness of the advantages trade studies can have, including reduced debt burden and practical job placement — increasingly important in a time of high inflation and for a workforce seeking specialized skills.
“As soon as they graduate, they’re ready to go,” Artime said of students obtaining a trade degree in Collier County, adding that Lorenzo Walker Technical College adult graduates from the 2023-24 school year have an 89% job placement rate. On a broader scale, more than 70% of trade school graduates get a job related to their field of study, as opposed to 40% of college graduates, according to World Metrics, which offers real-time global aggregate statistics.
Lorenzo Walker Technical College and iTech have occupational advisory boards for each program with field experts who can weigh in on local needs. And to maintain national accreditation, LWTC and iTECH must offer programs approved by the Florida Department of Education.
Current areas of high demand include aviation mechanics, automotive technology, health care and HVAC, according to Artime. Each program has an entrepreneurial component, and LWTC is in the process of adding a registered nursing program to meet a growing demand.
“This is the first time ever that in Collier, the technical colleges are able to offer registered nursing programs. We have a really, really high shortage of registered nurses in the country, but specifically in Collier County,” he said.
Practical nursing graduates can expect to start around $23 per hour, Artime said, which is about the $23.13 hourly wage an adult with no children needs to live in Collier County, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator. Starting pay for graduates of other in-demand programs can range from $23 to $29, Artime noted, depending on the field.
While the average starting salary of trade school students is lower ($35,720) compared to college graduates ($50,944), according to World Metrics, they may have less to pay off, as the average cost of attending a trade school program is $33,000, compared with the average cost of a bachelor’s degree program being $127,000, World Metrics reported.
“One hundred percent of our students complete our program debt-free,” Artime said. That’s because the state of Florida minimizes how much the trade schools can charge per clock hour per student. “Depending on [a student’s] need, they may qualify for a Pell Grant. For the rest of it, we have third-party agencies and scholarships.”
While career paths ultimately come down to wide-eyed students contemplating how to contribute to the workforce, a technical trade in a specialized field can offer strong job prospects in high-demand industries in less time than it takes to obtain a four-year degree.
“When a student completes a [technical school] program, not only are they ready to jump right into a job, but they also have the soft skills needed in order to be successful at the job,” Artime said.
This story was published in The Naples Press on Dec. 20.
