CLEARWATER, Fla. — According to the Pew Research Center, 40% of US adults surveyed say a four-year college degree is not important in order to get a well-paying job in today’s economy.

Local technical and trade schools say the increase in enrollment they’ve seen in recent years backs that up.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the Pew Research Center, 40% of US adults surveyed say a four year college degree is not important in order to get a well-paying job in today’s economy

  • Pinellas Technical College Clearwater Director Dr. Jakub Prokop says the average age of their students is now younger —22 years old — and almost all 30 of their programs are close to capacity

  • Most programs offered at Pinellas Technical College takes a little over a year to complete and most students are debt free at the end

The Director of Pinellas Technical College’s Clearwater campus, Dr. Jakub Prokop, says the average age of their students is now younger — 22 years old — and almost all 30 of their programs are close to capacity.

“We’ve experienced a 4% growth over the recent economic boom, which is very, very good for us, because normally, we experience about a 15-20% decline because people have work and they don’t want to go to school. But we’re growing,” said Prokop.

Prokop attributes some of the growth to the pandemic, which he says forced people to take a look at what careers can survive and thrive through anything, and that’s trades.

Austin Karp is one of those in the program.

“I ran MC cord, which is this, so it needs to be secured down every three feet according to national electrical code,” said Karp, a student in the electrical program at Pinellas Technical College.

Karp is almost finished with the program, and at only 19 years old, the Tarpon Springs High School graduate has his future all mapped out.

“I just got hired today at a job fair with J&K Electric, so fingers crossed, everything goes well, and I’ll have a job by the beginning of July,” he said.

Daniel Hendrickson is Karp’s instructor. He says most of his students are like Karp, and have jobs lined up before they even graduate.

“The state of Florida itself is probably close to 40-50,000 either electrical helpers or journeymen shy of what they need just to fill all of the spots. Within the state of Florida, that number has actually gone down quite a bit over the last couple years because of trade schools,” said Hendrickson.

In the shop area of class, they have just under 1,000 feet of lab space, including an entire tiny home built within it, so students get real life experience.

“They have to do their budget for all the materials, hiring a crew of their peers, all the way to calling the inspector,” said Hendrickson. 

He says in recent years, the electrical class has more than quadrupled in size, going from 12 to 15 students to now 55-60 students. Like most programs offered at Pinellas Technical College, it takes a little over a year to complete, and most students are debt free at the end: an important factor for Karp.

“My parents aren’t the most well off, so it would’ve ended up with me going into debt. This isn’t expensive, and you can come out of school making about what you would have been in debt if you went to a four-year college,” said Karp.

Karp says this is a career he truly loves, too, being able to help people, and illuminate the world one circuit at a time.

Pinellas Technical College offers the apprenticeship program for electricians as well as a journeyman program.