2+2+2 Program in Deleware Sets an Example

The following kind of a program is perhaps what our Colleges should be looking into in order to help young people move thru the Higher Education process in a more prompt and efficient manner?? What are your thoughts?

College and career options opening up for teens in area
LESLIE KROWCHENKO, Times Correspondent
04/10/2005

MARPLE -- A college/career path recently only available to students in three high schools has been opened to teens in four counties. Delaware County Community College’s 2+2+2 Program in Applied Engineering Technology (AET), which allows students to take college-level courses during their junior and senior years and ultimately graduate with a degree from Drexel University, has added the Delaware County and Chester County intermediate units to its educational partnership. Upper Darby High School, Coatesville Area Senior High School and Bucks County Technical High School were the only schools previously involved in the program.
The newly signed articulation agreements create an aggressive partnership among government, education and economic development agencies in Pennsylvania and will increase opportunities to educate highly credentialed workers for the region’s manufacturing industry.

"Manufacturers are desperate for skilled workers, and we decided to be part of the solution," said DCCC President Jerry Parker. "This regional approach will allow Delaware, Chester, Bucks and Montgomery counties to feed into Drexel."Engineering technologists merge the production and engineering facets of manufacturing by participating in the design, development, testing and manufacturing of industrial machinery, electric and electronic equipment, medical devices and consumer products. Areas of employment include process, environmental and field engineering, manufacturing research and development and electrical and power systems. While earning a maximum 16 tuition-free college credits, students are dually enrolled in DCCC or Montgomery County Community College and receive college transcripts at the conclusion of each semester. The skills-based courses, such as technical communications, electronic/electrical analysis and introduction to manufacturing processes, are relevant to the AET programs offered at the post-secondary school partners. All upper-level college classes are taught on the local campuses, resulting in a four-year total cost of approximately $30,000, compared to the full Drexel tuition of $130,000. The program provides "open entrance/open exit," allowing students to complete various stages, then, if they choose, return for continuing education. Entry level and advanced certificates lead to employment as machinists, CNC operators and drafters/designers, while those who earn Bachelor of Science degrees can be engaged in higher levels of the fields. "Students are employable after high school and/or community college and can come back to the program," said Dr. Carol Adukaitis, project manager in Workforce Leadership Grant, PA State System of Education. "This year will be our first graduating class to provide the most talented work force in the shortest amount of time."DCCC’s 2+2+2 benefits in part from a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, a division of the President’s High Growth Job Initiative administered through the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center. Funding is also provided by a portion of a $300,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development."This will be the nation’s premier educational infrastructure in three to five years," said Joseph Houldin, CEO of the DVIRC. "There will be virtually no business in the region that will have to move due to lack of qualified workers, and businesses looking for the people you will be providing may move to the region."An information session for high school sophomores and their parents about the program will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m., at the Malin Road campus, 85 N. Malin Road, Broomall. To register, contact Deborah McManus at (610) 459-3050, ext. 209.
©The Daily Times 2005