Will trade schools be the new colleges?

SALT LAKE CITY — Trade schools seem to be getting more and more support, as President Trump has signed an executive order to boost job training for skilled trades that don’t require college.

But what about the typical college path?

The White House aims to support more than one million apprenticeships every year.

In Utah, investment in these types of programs has already been made. Tyler Paul is the director of Davis Catalyst Center, a career and technical education magnet school.

He said they are thankful for Speaker Mike Schultz’s investment in this type of education in Utah. 

“Last year, he toured Davis Catalyst and, as he left, he said, ‘We need one of these centers in every school district in Utah.’ So we started talking about the ways that we could grow that and what it would take for school districts to engage in this type of learning,” Paul said.

How does a trade school work?

According to Paul, the main difference between public high schools and Davis Catalyst is the structure of their classes. 

They do what’s called “profession-based learning,” where, instead of the typical certified teacher, an industry professional comes in and creates real projects the students can work on to get feedback.

“So rather than learning for a grade, you’re learning for the experience of learning,” Paul said. “… And the goal would be that the business is able to use that project to benefit their business in the future. And the benefit for us and our students is they get to, first, partner with a real industry partner, but they also get to learn about how the real world works.”

Paul said the hope is that by getting real-world experience, students can better decide what they want to pursue after graduating from high school and better imagine a plan for their goals. 

“Too often we think about high school as the finish line. It’s, ‘Oh, you’re almost done. You’re almost done.’ But really, it’s the starting line,” Paul said.

Davis Catalyst serves several schools within the Davis School District and allows students to earn high school and college credits. Some programs the school offers are computer science, drones, media production, culinary arts, construction management and aviation. 

The college debate

For many, the standard has been to go to college to get a good job. However, as President Trump pushes for more American manufacturing, the support for trade schools is rising. But is it right for everyone?

Paul said maybe not.

“Instead of talking about this or that, we need to embrace the culture of ‘and.’ It’s okay that we’re preparing kids for university. It’s also okay that we’re preparing kids for technical trades. Ultimately, we want to expose our students to a variety of things, so they can choose what they’re interested in,” Paul said.

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