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Community and technical colleges report rising enrollments, strong licensure pass rates and new employer partnerships
Summary
Community colleges and technical colleges highlighted program growth, high licensure pass rates, new employer partnerships, and initiatives to expand access to CTE programs across western and central Kansas.
Presenters for community and technical colleges reported enrollment gains in several regions, high first-time licensure pass rates across health-care programs, and a range of industry partnerships and new program launches.
Seth (community college presenter) highlighted achievements across multiple community colleges. Colby Community College reported a 33% increase in CTE enrollment since 2020 and a year-one wage placement for its associate degree nursing program that "exceeded $82,000," citing campus data. Colby said dental hygiene and physical therapist assistant programs had 100% first-time national board pass rates and practical nursing had a 96% NCLEX first-time pass rate. Colby also noted GrowSafe and an operational farm partnership that gives students full life-cycle agricultural experience.
Dodge City Community College described expanded dual-enrollment access for high school students, development of an automotive technology center supported by a Kansas Department of Commerce draw grant and local industry partners, and a technical education schedule designed to accommodate secondary students.
Fort Scott Community College reported a cosmetology first-time state licensure pass rate of 100% for the December cohort, a nursing department first-time NCLEX pass rate of 93.33% (84.21% overall for 2024), and a new memorandum of understanding in process with Kansas City University to ease rural students' access to advanced health-care programs.
Garden City Community College reported record credit-hour enrollment and a 12.5% head-count increase in spring 2025 (compared to fall 2024), new transfer partnerships with state universities, a planned 10-credit Kansas community health worker program to align with KDHE certification, and expansion of apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programs.
Highland Community College, Hutchinson Community College and others described strong licensure pass rates across practical nursing, RN NCLEX, cosmetology and other allied health credentials, employer-hosted youth apprenticeships, career fairs with hundreds of employers, and new training partnerships with agricultural equipment providers.
Technical colleges reported similar growth and employer partnerships. Flint Hills Technical College highlighted outreach to Spanish-speaking populations and expansion of early college programs. Salina Tech described fundraising for student food security and local apprenticeship pipelines. Washburn Tech opened a student health clinic and reported spring enrollment up over 6% year-over-year.
Why it matters: TEA members noted the statewide significance of high licensure pass rates and employer partnerships for workforce development. One member observed that technical and community colleges have successfully increased enrollments, particularly in male students at tech colleges, bucking national higher-education trends.
Provenance: Updates and data were presented during the meeting's community-college and technical-college report segments and were followed by member questions and comments.
