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Uintah Basin Tech (UBTech) highlights retention, high placement and launches 'Workforce Promise' for employers
Summary
Uintah Basin Technical College reported high retention and placement, strong scholarship support, and launched a new 'Workforce Promise' curriculum linking graduates with employers for voluntary remediation in the first year on the job.
President Erin Waite said Uintah Basin Technical College (UBTech) is the rural technical college of Utah and emphasized the college’s role in stabilizing a historically boom‑and‑bust regional economy. Waite said graduates typically see about a 40% increase in median wages within the first year after completion and that the college’s adult retention and graduation rates are high (retention ~96% for adult students; graduation ~86%).
UBTech leaders described strong community financial support and scholarship fundraising that supplies a high percentage of student aid; the college reported 73% of tuition revenue came from external scholarships, and 88% of certificate seekers received scholarships. Waite said 100% of respondents to a post‑graduate survey reported no debt.
Irene Hansen, former Duchesne County commissioner, described the college’s place in local economic development and said technical education has helped reduce the region’s boom‑and‑bust cycles by producing local workers for medical, diesel, welding, CDL and other trades. UBTech highlighted work‑based learning, a Titan support center with hundreds of student visits through December, and expanded student advising sessions to support completion.
UBTech introduced the “Workforce Promise,” a new eight‑competency curriculum to teach durable employability skills and a pledge employers can sign: if a graduate and an employer need remediation during the first year of employment, UBTech will provide the remediation at no charge to the student or employer. Waite said dozens of students and employers already enrolled or pledged to participate.
Ending: UBTech supports the system consensus budget and asked the committee to consider funding rural initiatives, such as the joint Snow College‑UBTech career coach request to increase higher‑education matriculation for rural high school graduates.
