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The Need for the Chester County Technical College High School

Over the past decade, Chester County has experienced unprecedented growth, especially in the southern portion of the county. Unfortunately, due to the rural character of southern Chester County, career and technical training and work force development have not kept pace with the region’s rapidly expanding population.

For example, over 300 high school students were denied admission to the Center for Arts & Technology Brandywine Campus due to lack of space. The Brandywine Campus provides career and technical training to high school students living in southern and central Chester County, and is at maximum capacity with nearly 900 students.

Educational Benefits

  • Expand educational services to special needs and other under-served student populations, including: migrant, economically disadvantaged, and at-risk students.
  • Provide career and technical training to a minimum of 600 secondary students.
  • Provide associate degree programs to a minimum of 300 post-secondary students during its first year of operation. The post-secondary enrollment is projected to grow by several hundred students annually through 2012.
  • Strengthen existing articulation agreements and lay the foundation for new ones to be developed between the Center for Arts & Technology and Delaware County Community College; thereby allowing secondary students to earn credit toward their associate’s degree while in high school.
  • Create opportunities for expanding 2 + 2 + 2 opportunities for high school students by aligning Center for Arts & Technology curriculum with college and university transfer programs, including: education, computer information systems, business administration, science for health care professionals, and engineering.
  • Permit the expansion of the Chester County Middle College High School to serve students in southern Chester County. The Chester County Middle College High School allows high school students to achieve academic success, explore career aspirations, and to attend college classes while they are in their junior and senior years of high school.
  • Allow for shared instructional space for high school and college students, including: career and technical training programs, credit-bearing classes, science and computer labs, and a library/media center.

Economic Benefits

  • Save taxpayers $16.5 million in duplicate development and construction costs through the shared use of the facility by the Chester County Intermediate Unit and Delaware County Community College.
  • Expand job training opportunities for the region’s large migrant population.
  • Strengthen the commonwealth’s tax base by producing a technically-trained, high-wage work force.