Training & Technical Center expands curriculum in Belton

By Ben McCarthy

The Belton School District’s Early College Program begins the second-year of its in-person dual enrollment classes next week. The program, a partnership with Metropolitan Community College (MCC) – Longview, sends Belton High School (BHS) students to the Training & Technical Center of Cass County (TTCCC), located at I-49 and 155th St. as their last period of the school day.

The program, which runs five days a week, had 12 students enrolled last year, and expects to double that number this year. MCC – Longview President, Dr. Ryan Crider, says the BHS students enrolling in the programs are doing more than just getting a headstart on earning more transferable college credit hours.

“It’s an investment in identifying potential career paths as early as 9th or 10th grade,” Crider said. “It’s also going to help their parents recognize that there are different fruitful career paths out there.”

Last year, the program offered classes through two pathways: the Public Service Institute, and the Business Institute. This year, the program will add the Academies of Belton Healthcare Institute, which Crider says could serve as a steppingstone towards several careers, such as nursing.

Rebekah Hange, Communications Specialist for the Belton School District, says the Belton Educational Foundation will continue to sponsor the full tuition costs for Business Institute and Public Service Institute students, while the Cass Community Health Foundation will make a sizeable contribution toward the tuition costs for up to 15 junior students in the Healthcare Institute.

Business students might work toward an accounting career, or explore a more general entrepreneurship focus, while Public Service students could study careers as a social worker or police officer. Dr. Scott Sisemore, the Belton School District’s Director of Academies, says he is working on establishing a pipeline that will help place interested healthcare students at Belton Regional Medical Center

“All of these courses help the students work towards an Associate’s Degree, but they also need to serve as a pipeline into the workforce,” Sisemore said. “Freshman year we want all students to begin exploring career options. By Junior year, we want them in one of our Academy programs, that will provide them with a more targeted approach to finding the high paying jobs that are out there in the field that they are interested in.”

The program begins its second year as more data casts doubt on the value of many traditional, four-year college degrees. Massive student debt obligations continue to rise and a growing number of degree-holders are underemployed. Last month, data from the Federal Reserve indicated 7% of all young men who had recently graduated college were unemployed, and that most Gen Z men with college degrees now have a nearly identical unemployment rate as their non-grad counterparts. The average student loan cost of a four year college degree in the region runs on average $25-35,000, which is only slightly lower than the national average of a federal student loan ($38,000).

Crider says attitudes in the region are finally shifting and the mentality that insisted on all high school graduates be thrust into four-year college programs, is finally beginning to break apart.

“I’m glad we’re seeing the stigma beginning to disappear that you have to go to a 4-year college and get saddled with massive debt,” Crider said. “Seeing our automotive students leave Longview with an Associate’s Degree and get jobs at local dealerships where they’re earning $65-75,000 right out the gate shows that there are several paths to success in the workforce.”

Learn more at beltonschools.org.