Career and Technical Education Programs

Santa Barbara City College offers a variety of programs and courses in career and technical education. These include the short-duration Skills Competency and Departmental Award programs and Certificates of Achievement and two-year Associate in Science Degree programs. Subject areas include:

Basic Skills in CTE Programs

According to Janet Fulks of Bakersfield College and Marcy Alancraig of Cabrillo College, 80% of community college students are several levels below college readiness thresholds. Further, only 10% of the students who are three levels below this threshold continue to college level. Many give up due to the long and arduous path to "make it".

This increase in students without basic skills, combined with a high immigration rate and the need for skilled workers in key vocational areas, creates a tremendous responsibility for community colleges.

Why are basic skills important? A January 2008 Report (PDF) on the System's Current Programs in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Basic Skills by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges states:

"... providing underprepared and underrepresented students with opportunities to gain the skills foundational to success in college level work, either before or early in their college experience, is critical to achieving educational equity. [...] In California's economy, high-wage and high-growth employers require a workforce with appropriate levels of basic skills as well as the ability to adapt quickly to changing technology. Likewise, this investment in underprepared students [...] contributes to the colleges' economic development mission and to the state's long-term social and economic health."