ST. GEORGE — Dixie Technical College announced a new educational pathway called TechConnect, which allows credits earned at the college to be applied toward a 60-credit associate degree at Snow College. The collaboration aims to streamline the education pathway and help students continue their studies without losing time or credits.
Dixie Tech and Snow College faculty pose for a photo outside the college, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Dixie Technical College, St. George News
“This is a brand-new collaboration between the two colleges,” said Jeremiah Terry, vice president of marketing and institutional outreach at Dixie Technical College.
The process behind the partnership with Snow College also applies to all other technical colleges in Utah.
“Snow College has opened up the pathway so that anyone who graduates from a technical college inside of Utah can apply them towards an Associate of Science,” Terry said.
Previous systems saw technical college credits counting only toward a non-transferable Applied Associate of Science degree, officials noted.
“This is different than everything else that’s come before,” Terry said. “That associate can then transfer to any of the public universities in Utah, and someone can continue on with their bachelor’s or doctorate or master’s.”
Terry said one benefit of this pathway is that students can begin their schooling at Dixie Technical College and learn a skill that, after they transfer, they can gain employment using that skill while enrolling in college.
“You’re able to get a really solid foundation, a hands-on skill, which means you can get a much better job while working your way through college,” Terry said. “You can have something meaningful that actually applies to the industry that you’re going to eventually be in, maybe for the rest of your life.”
One example provided was the pharmacy technician program.
“Students go for five to six months and then do an externship,” Terry said. “They can then transfer those directly to Snow College. But as they continue on and maybe become a pharmacist, now they’re working in a pharmacy all the way until they actually become a pharmacist, so they’re much further ahead.”
President Jordan Rushton speaks before a class of students, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Dixie Technical College, St. George News
He added that students will have a better chance of getting accepted into pharmacy school “because they’ve actually worked in one before.”
While some students might find it challenging to transition from hands-on classes at Dixie Technical College to online classes at Snow College, the pathway offers flexibility.
“They don’t necessarily have to do online at Snow College,” Terry said. “They can transfer and go in person to Snow College, which is pretty well known in the state for having a very high level of quality.”
Snow College is recognized for its small class sizes and focus on associate degrees.
“It’s what they do best,” Terry added. “If someone were to transfer, they’d have a really similar experience to what they were used to at a technical college: small class sizes and more hands-on.”
This opportunity has never been seen before in Utah.
“There’s never been a university that has opened their doors and said, ‘Hey, we’ll take everything. We’ll take all the credits that you achieved in technical college, and we will open the doors to apply those credits toward an Associate of Science,’” Terry said.
Students who choose this path can save anywhere from half a year to an entire full year of time.
“An associate’s degree is 60 credits total,” Terry said. “Some of our longer programs that are at least a year are 30 credits, and so you get almost half of it done.”
A faculty member tells those in attendance about the new program, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Dixie Technical College, St. George News
The new TechConnect pathway is designed to give students a significant head start in their chosen fields, allowing them to work in their industry while continuing their education.
“You’re just going to be further ahead,” Terry said. “Let’s say someone wanted to go into a medical profession, and they waited six years or eight years before they ever worked with a patient — that could be a lot of wasted time and money. Or, they could start at a technical college and actually start working with patients within one year and know for sure that this is what they want to do.”
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