Massachusetts is home to a wide range of technical schools, from high schools to four-year colleges. Metropolitan areas such as Boston and Springfield offer more options, but the eastern and northern parts of the state provide opportunities for technical education as well. While national technical schools with local Massachusetts branches might offer many programs from which to choose, regional and local schools are more focused in their catalogs.
Western Massachusetts
Mildred Elley in Pittsfeld is part of a three-campus institution with headquarters in Albany, New York. At the Pittsfield campus Mildred Elley offers its approximately 160 students certificates in business management, cosmetology, criminal justice, massage therapy, medical assisting and paralegal studies. Students who complete two certificate programs in four semesters can transfer those credits to the Albany campus 40 miles away where they can complete an associate's degree in one of four areas by attending an additional semester. Mildred Elley offers scholarships and a career-counseling seminar. Four out of five of Mildred Elley graduates find employment in their field after graduation.
Northern Massachusetts
Franklin County Technical School is in Turners Falls, an historic village. For teens in grades 9 to 12, the school offers traditional academics plus programs in auto body repair, automotive technology, business technology, carpentry, cosmetology, culinary arts, electrical, health technology, information technology, landscaping and horticulture, machine technology, plumbing/heating and welding/metal fabrication. Like a non-vocational high school, Franklin County Tech offers extracurricular clubs and a range of sports for student participation. Students can apply for a dual enrollment program that gives them credit at Greenfield Community College and Holyoke Community College. Franklin Tech is a public school that grants admission to students from 19 surrounding towns plus those in other areas who pay admission.
Southern Massachusetts
The more populous area of Springfield offers more options for technical schools, including Branford Hall Career Institute and Porter and Chester. Branford Hall is a northeastern consortium of six campuses with a branch in Springfield that has two schools: the Healthcare Education Center grants certificates in massage therapy, professional medical assistant and health claims specialist, while the Technical Training Center offers certificate programs in culinary arts, HVAC, computer networking management and professional fitness trainer. Branford Hall's employment placement rate ranges from 65 percent for professional medical assistant to 100 percent for professional fitness trainer. Another regional school, Porter and Chester, has nine locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, including the Chicopee branch near Springfield that has certificate programs in automotive technology, computer-aided drafting and design, computer and network technology, electrician, HVAC, administrative health specialist, dental assisting and medical assisting. The school offers lifetime employment placement assistance that begins at graduation and continues throughout the student's career.
Eastern Massachusetts -- Boston
As the state's largest city, Boston offers the most choices for technical schools, including technical high schools, community colleges, private technical schools and branches of national chains such as Kaplan, ITT and Lincoln Technical Institute. Wentworth Institute of Technology, founded in 1904, offers a small-school environment with 4,000 students -- 76 percent of whom receive financial aid -- pursuing bachelor's degrees in architecture, engineering, humanities or science. For those looking for two-year degrees, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology offers nine associate's degree programs, plus four certificate programs and one bachelor's degree program, to its 550 students studying industrial and engineering technology. About 10 percent of Benjamin Franklin students live on campus, and 80 percent receive financial aid. Greater Boston is also home to Greater Lowell Technical High School, the nation's largest technical high school, which also offers adult education classes.
Tags: technical schools, certificate programs, Mildred Elley, Branford Hall, associate degree
