Texas State Technical College has awarded $1.27M in scholarships to high school students from throughout the state of Texas.
TSTC was the title sponsor of the 2024 SkillsUSA Texas State Leadership and Skills Conference, which was held earlier this month. Over 6,000 students from across the state competed in leadership and technical contests, with 77 students receiving gold medals in competitions related to TSTC’s technical programs.
SkillsUSA is a professional organization with the goal to provide students with professional opportunities and technical education to become career-ready after high school.
Trey Pearson: “The really beneficial thing for being able to expose students to careers, and technical education especially, is quite frankly the industry and the jobs are begging for more students to go into them.”
Trey Pearson, the executive director of student recruitment at TSTC, says he sees more and more students opting for technical or trade skill schools after high school graduation rather than pursuing four years at a university.
Trey Pearson: “We’ve seen students get much smarter about the decisions that go into where they end up at college at. College is a great thing, it allows young adults to kind of mature, to socialize, to find out who they are. But at the end of the day they always go back to that marketable skill. And I have found in the last five to ten years working with students they’re asking a lot more questions about what does this allow me to do after I graduate? What will I be able to earn? Where will I work? Will I be able to stay close to home? Do I need to move? Students have gotten a lot more inquisitive and are asking a lot more pointed questions of higher institutions.”
SkillsUSA provides numerous programs and competitions for both high schoolers and college students interested in pursuing a trade. You can visit skillsusa.org to learn more.
