(WHARTON) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is rebooting his Good for Texas Tour
by highlighting Texas community colleges’ important impact on the Texas
economy as well as their role in meeting specific educational and
vocational needs of the areas they serve. Today, Hegar is visiting
Wharton County Junior College, which has notable automotive, nuclear
power technology, process technology, manufacturing technology and
business programs.
“When
I graduated from high school, I wasn’t quite ready to leave home, but I
was ready to begin this journey called life – so I attended a community
college,” Hegar said. “That first step into higher education paved the
way for everything else, including my decision to become a lawyer and
the honor of representing Texans in public office. These institutions
strategically tackle workforce needs and provide a more affordable
option for parents and students seeking higher education and job
training opportunities.”
During his Good for Texas Tour: Community College Edition,
Hegar is sharing the results of a study the Comptroller's office
recently completed examining Texas community colleges’ impact on their
communities and the Texas economy. He is touring college campuses and
meeting with students, faculty and community members to highlight these
institutions, which provide
students with valuable training and classroom instruction to prepare
for further education or to join the Texas workforce.
Texas’
50 community college districts enrolled about 700,000 students in 2017,
which is about 46 percent of all Texas higher education students. The
college districts contributed $9.8 billion to the state’s economy and
supported 77,738 jobs.
Community
colleges are much more affordable than other higher education options.
During the 2017-18 school year, Texas’ community colleges had the
nation’s fourth-lowest tuition and fees per year ($2,209), behind only
California, New Mexico and Arizona. Community colleges also provide
students with a good return on investment. Texas workers with some
college or with associate degrees who have stable jobs earn $8,300 more
annually than high school graduates. Those higher wages add an
additional $27.2 billion in direct compensation to the state economy
each year.
Wharton
County Junior College (WCJC) has campuses in Wharton, Bay City,
Richmond and Sugar Land. Its service area includes Wharton, Matagorda
and Colorado counties, along with parts of Fort Bend, Jackson and Austin
counties. There were 6,768 students enrolled at WCJC in the 2017-18
school year, and average annual tuition and fees totaled $3,110.
The college’s nuclear
power technology, process technology and manufacturing technology
programs provide students with high-tech training and instruction in the
classroom and in labs to meet technology needs. Automotive technology
and business office technology programs also are popular. In all, WCJC
has more than 40 high-demand associate degree and certificate programs.
For more information on the tour, including photos, videos and in-depth data on Texas’ community colleges, visit the Comptroller’s website.
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