To ensure that students know how to collect the college credit they have earned for their CTE classes, Community Partnership Coordinator Shannon Sheldon is teaching students during classroom presentations.

“We helped students secure almost seventeen-thousand dollars worth of college credits; hardly anyone took advantage of the opportunity,” Sheldon said. “I personally vowed to reach out to every student who qualifies and urge them to register, but unfortunately, for many students, the process is not simple. If the student doesn’t already have an NSHE ID (Nevada System of Higher Education ID Number), there is a two set application process, in which most students forget to do the second step.”

After virtually presenting to classes last year, Sheldon’s position as community partnership coordinator allows her to help students with CTE-related tasks.

“Some students don’t transfer because they aren’t going into college to be whatever their [program] was,” Fashion Design teacher Levi Harbeson said. “They forget that it can be used as elective credits to graduate from college or they may not be aware that they want to go back to their program area down the road.”

There are some post-secondary institutions in Nevada that offer free college credits to students who successfully complete select programs of study, which means students pass their classes with a 3.0 GPA, and pass both the Workplace Readiness Skills and End of Programs Assessments.

“One of the things I love about CTE is it gives students a chance to kind of experiment a little bit,” Teaching and Training teacher Vincent Thur said. “This is good for students right now because it doesn’t cost them any money besides class fees and that’s so much more important than graduating then trying something and then you can’t quit your job because now you have things to pay. So I feel that it helps guide students into a career or at least eliminate a career so they spend less time on their own.”

Students who meet the requirements for certain programs can receive two or more college credits at: College of Southern Nevada, Truckee Meadows Community College, Great Basin College or Western Nevada College for completing the programs, at no additional cost.

“It’s important for other students to redeem the CTE credits because it helps them avoid more  financial debt, and it can help them not take the class again, or have more elective credits, ” Senior Justin Pecayo said. “I got six credits from Web Design, and three from Graphic Design. I think other students don’t transfer their credits because they either don’t have time, or they have procrastinated.”