A 50-State Analysis of Area Technical Centers
States face transformational disruptions in education and work that have further widened skill and equity gaps. Area technical centers (ATCs) are under-utilized public educational institutions that are powerful tools in expanding equitable pathways for learners to gain postsecondary credentials that lead to meaningful careers while helping states meet their statewide attainment goals.
ATCs: Serving Their Communities by Helping Learners Earn Credentials They Need to Get Good Jobs
ATCs, incubated by federal law and investments in the 1960s, are Career Technical Education (CTE)-focused institutions that serve learners from across multiple geographies, such as school districts, educational service areas, and workforce development areas or regions. These public institutions offer secondary and sub-baccalaureate-level education and training and can serve secondary learners, postsecondary learners or both.
ATCs have a central and significant role in the CTE delivery system.
There are more ATCs in the United States than there are community colleges. These largely open-access institutions are in 39 states and territories. There are 1,346 unique ATCs, but that number rises to 1,481 when taking into consideration ATCs with multiple, affiliated locations.
ATCs are multi-faceted public institutions that have complex governance and funding structures across states.
ATC governance and related funding structures vary considerably by state and even within individual states or territories. While this variation is also true with regards to funding sources, most ATCs receive financial support primarily from local, rather than state or federal, funding sources.
ATCs in 27 states serve postsecondary learners, actively contributing to statewide attainment goals.
Twenty-seven states have ATCs that serve postsecondary learners to some degree, contributing to those states’ postsecondary attainment goals primarily through shorter-term and non-degree credentials that fall below the associate degree level.
ATCs are responsive to the needs of their labor market.
CTE program offerings at ATCs cover the breadth of the U.S. economy and are represented within every Career Cluster®.
ATCs are under-studied and under-utilized public assets that should be better leveraged to equitably support learners on their pathway to a good job.
ATCs are not well understood and, as a result, are often overlooked in wider discussions and decisions regarding postsecondary education and workforce development. These public institutions can and should be better leveraged to help more learners equitably access and attain postsecondary education and related credentials of value. Doing so will help close skill and equity gaps and ensure that more Americans have the skills, competencies and credentials they need for future career success and economic prosperity.
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Download Building Better Futures for Learners: A 50-State Analysis of Area Technical Centers
There are more area technical centers (ATCs) in the United States than there are community colleges. Despite their prevalence, ATCs are not well understood and, as a result, are often overlooked in wider discussions and decisions regarding postsecondary education and workforce development. These under-utilized public institutions can and should be better leveraged to help more learners equitably access and attain postsecondary education and related credentials of value. Doing so will help close skill and equity gaps and ensure that more Americans have the skills, competencies and credentials they need for future career success and economic prosperity. Building Better Futures for Learners: A 50-State Analysis of Area Technical Centers examines these under-studied and under-utilized public assets.
State Profiles
Delaware’s ATCs
Delaware’s creation of intentional roles for ATCs in their state’s workforce development and postsecondary systems provide an effective model for postsecondary alignment of ATCs and elevating employer connections statewide.
Florida’s Technical Colleges
Florida’s area’s technical centers, known as technical colleges, solely serve postsecondary and adult learners, equipping learners with skills through short-term credentialing programs, which provides a unique lens into the role of ATCs in postsecondary attainment.
Ohio’s Technical Centers
Ohio’s ATCs, known as Ohio technical centers, provide an effective blueprint for tackling the interconnected alignment issues of articulation, transfer and integration with state workforce initiatives to benefit learners.
Oklahoma’s Technology Centers
Oklahoma’s area technical centers, known as technology centers, demonstrate the benefits of an effective balance of state and local oversight that remains nimble to local learner and employer needs while also advancing state workforce development and attainment goals.
Utah’s Technical Colleges
Utah’s area technical centers, known as technical colleges, demonstrate the potential of ATCs when elevated in state policy to improve student outcomes and postsecondary alignment to advance state attainment goals.
Resources
The following resources include a fact sheet highlighting how area technical centers (ATCs) can and should contribute to state postsecondary attainment goals and a spreadsheet containing a nationwide list of confirmed ATCs and their affiliated campuses, if applicable.
To provide comments, additions or corrections to the nationwide ATC list, please email info@careertech.org.
Fact Sheet
This resource showcases why states should leverage ATCs in their efforts to achieve their statewide attainment goals, drawing on national survey findings and best-in-class state exemplars.
Nationwide ATC Listing
Download the full list of 1,346 ATCs (1,481 when taking into consideration ATCs with multiple, affiliated locations) located in 39 states/territories. Please provide the following information to help us track who is accessing our research and how it is being used.