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Ogden‑Weber Tech reports strong placement, apprenticeship expansion and K‑16 high‑school integration
Summary
Ogden‑Weber Technical College told the subcommittee it has met performance metrics, is placing nearly all graduates into jobs, expanded apprenticeship offerings and opened a technical high school on its campus that integrates high‑school academics with college technical training.
Ogden‑Weber Technical College told the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee that it has met its five‑year performance goals, grown enrollment and is placing the vast majority of graduates into employment in their fields.
“Higher education that works” is the vision President James Taggart used to describe the college’s mission to train students for immediate employment, he said. Taggart told the committee that Ogden‑Weber has met performance metrics for access, timely completion and high‑yield awards and that the institution’s headcount and FTE have grown since system merger in 2020.
The college reported a job placement rate for graduates of 99% for placements in graduates’ field of study and said 83% of its students attend part time—data the college presented to show its programs meet working students’ schedule needs. Taggart described apprenticeship enrollments (1,344 apprentices in traditional trades last year) and new non‑traditional apprenticeships, including medical assisting programs developed with employers that allow workers to gain credentials while remaining on the job.
Ogden‑Weber also described a life‑science manufacturing partnership funded by a Talent Ready Utah grant that partners with Fresenius and others and uses portable trainers to deliver training on site; Fresenius asked the college to prepare 800 employees to hold at least one relevant credential. The college said the partnership has increased female enrollment in automation and controls programs.
Taggart outlined a new technical high‑school building on campus that removes transportation barriers for high‑school students and aligns technical training with high‑school core requirements using competency‑based project learning. He called two statewide credit‑transfer efforts—Snow TechConnect and Weber State’s Tech Transfer—“significant innovations” that validate technical credits and allow students to stack technical credentials into associate and bachelor degrees.
Legislators praised the college’s community integration and called the technical high‑school model a potential statewide scale candidate. The committee did not take a formal vote on the college’s request during the hearing.
