Texas has long been a hub for business, with low taxes, low housing costs, and rich energy resources. Employers are looking for people who will bring relevant skills to the workplace. There are plentiful opportunities in aerospace and defense manufacturing, computers, and information technology around Dallas and Houston, while Austin-Round Rock is known for its technology industry - it's home to Dell. Houston is also home to the Texas Medical Center is a major employer of healthcare trade school students.
Texas technical schools can offer you training in range of fields, from computer support to dental assistance, licensed vocational nursing and surgical technology.
Wages for graduates of Texas technical schools will vary, but May 2011 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that computer support specialists earned mean annual wages of $53,770 while dental assistants earned $31,550. Licensed vocational nurses earned mean annual wages of $42,260 while surgical technologists earned $41,600.
An education with technical schools in Texas
Texas technical schools could be a good way to try on a career without making a substantial financial or time commitment to it. Most programs you find through one of the technical schools in Texas will likely be short term and last a few months, especially if the courses result in a certificate or diploma. However, you could find longer programs that result in an associate degree and could take up to two years or more depending on your work pace.
Some students of Texas technical schools choose to continue their training after graduation and head to a community college or university to advance their degrees. For example, a student who has received a certificate to be a nursing aide in Texas earned mean annual wages of $22,510, according to May 2011 BLS data. However, with more education and after passing the NCLEX-RN exam, that student could become a registered nurse and earn mean annual wages of $67,580. In fact, that student could eventually go on to seek a master's of nursing degree and look for entry into fields like administration, consulting and teaching.
Technical schools in Texas offer skills students can use to enter the workforce right away and build on to advance in their career, or in less time switch to another career path.
