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<\/p>\nAs Central Texas graduates consider their next steps, the Goodwill Career & Technical Academy offers a fast-track to skilled trades and healthcare careers.<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 As high school graduation season wraps up across Central Texas, many graduates are preparing to head to college this fall. But for others, a traditional four-year degree isn\u2019t the path they want to take.<\/p>\n
The Goodwill Career & Technical Academy (GCTA) in Austin offers another option by helping students earn industry certifications and enter the workforce in as little as six to eight weeks.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe think students are realizing that they can get trained and working sooner and start earning an income,\u201d said Alexis Denny, senior director of the GCTA. \u201cMost of our programs are accelerated so they can get trained and working in anywhere from six to eight weeks on average.\u201d<\/p>\n
The academy offers certification programs in skilled trades, including electrical, HVAC, plumbing and truck driving, along with healthcare careers such as certified nursing assistant (CNA), patient care technician, medical assistant, phlebotomy, medical coding and billing.<\/p>\n
Denny said those fields continue to be in high demand across Central Texas and offer opportunities for long-term career growth.<\/p>\n
Unlike a traditional college degree, many of the academy\u2019s programs are offered at little-to-no cost for students. Denny said this is possible through support from donors, private foundations and state and federal funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That funding also allows the academy to provide wraparound services, including transportation assistance, career coaching and job placement support, to help students overcome barriers to employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome student that are coming through our program is experiencing some significant barrier to employment,\u201d Denny said. \u201cSo we can support them with gas cards and bus passes and things that are really in an effort to eliminate any barriers that could prevent them from successfully completing the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
After students complete their training, Goodwill\u2019s business solutions team works to connect graduates with local employers while helping them prepare for interviews and begin their careers.<\/p>\n
Denny said employers across the Austin area continue to seek workers -particularly in the skilled trades- and that many partner directly with the academy.<\/p>\n
For graduates still deciding what\u2019s next, Denny said students shouldn\u2019t feel pressured to follow a traditional path.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf college does not seem like the right path right now, know that there are other opportunities out there,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are programs like ours that allows you finish the program, come out with no debt, and wraparound services to get employed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denny said the goal is to help students find careers that fit their interests while meeting workforce needs across Central Texas, proving that college isn\u2019t the only path to a successful future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Central Texas graduates consider their next steps, the Goodwill Career & Technical Academy offers a fast-track to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-364007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}