National Signing Day for high school students pursuing career & technical educations

Across Tennessee today, proud parents and school administrators cheered on hundreds of high school students who signed on to pursuing career and technical educations at Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.

It was National CTE Letter of Intent Signing Day across the state and nation – an event modeled after the NCAA’s National Signing Day for high school athletes. National CTE (Career & Technical Education) Signing Day honors students choosing to enroll in technical colleges to further their educations.

Now in its seventh year, the event is sponsored by the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), and hosted by technical colleges across the nation. Just as we value athletes who commit to play college sports, the signing day ceremonies are designed to honor students who are entering career and technical fields and to emphasize the importance of their career choice.

Tennessee’s 27 public colleges of applied technology are telling the students that a place has been reserved for them and that they are valued. Technical education will prepare them for a strong career and builds families, sustains communities and grows a highly-skilled workforce.

The TCAT system offers programs in major industry clusters: Advanced Manufacturing, Allied Health, Architecture and Construction, Business, Information Technology, Personal Services, and Transportation. Each cluster offers a number of career programs and options for students. To see what our colleges offer you, including Careers in Year, visit our community and technical colleges websites.

And Tennessee has several financial aid programs that offer TCAT enrollment free of tuition, including Tennessee Promise for new high school graduates, Tennessee Reconnect for adults without college credentials, and the Wilder-Naifeh Technical Skills Grants. For more information on scholarship opportunities, visit https://www.tn.gov/collegepays.html

For more information on National CTE Signing Day and to view archived video of the events, visit https://www.nc3.net/signing-day/.