HARLINGEN — Texas State Technical College is putting its money where its mouth is.
Starting next month, the college will offer money-back guarantees to students who complete degrees in high-paying, high-demand programs but fail to find jobs within six months of graduation.
The program is limited to certain programs, but will soon be offered under every program at TSTC.
Students will be able to apply to the program, which will start Nov. 1, during their first semester at school.
TSTC is putting its guarantee behind the job-placement promise students receive when they sign up for the high-demand programs, said Program Lead Celina Garza.
Those programs include diesel equipment, electrical lineworker, electrical power and control, instrumentation and welding.
Of the five programs, welding is the only one offered at the Harlingen campus.
According to Garza’s data, Harlingen’s welding program has a 65 percent three-year job placement average.
Students are advised of the job availability very early on, Garza said. TSTC has spent 50 years placing students in jobs all over the state.
The money-back guarantee is a part of TSTC’s Get-a-Job program, a comprehensive extracurricular development program in which students learn the skills they’ll need to locate and land a “great-paying job.”
With enrollment up by more than 1,000 this fall, college officials expect the new program will have a major positive impact on enrollment.
Enrollment currently sits at a little more than 6,000 students at the Harlingen campus.
“More people are starting to understand the value of a technical education,” said Christine Curruthers, who works with enrollment.
Because of the hike in students, Curruthers said the college has had to add instructors and staff.
Upon entering the program, students will be given the option to opt in. Garza said over the next two years, students will work on the skills necessary to obtain a job, such as resume building, interviewing skills and job searching.
“The goal is to place them in a job before they graduate,” Garza said.
For those who don’t, they will have another six months of job searching. After that the school will fully reimburse their tuition — first by paying off the student loans then paying anything the student paid out of pocket.
Officials admit this new initiative is unconventional but TSTC stands by its decision to take the financial burden off its students and families.
“There are many benefits to this, but the biggest impact its going to have is on the success of our students,” said TSTC Chancellor and CEO Michael Reeser.
“Families in Texas can send their kids to school confident in the fact that they aren’t going to be burdened by extraordinary debt or lost interest payments if they fail to get a job.”
