Bates Technical College
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Bates Technical College is a public
technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
located in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
, US. The college offers two-year
Associate of Applied Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...
degrees, academic certificates, and industry
certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
s. Bates is accredited by the
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...
, and maintains articulation agreements with several four-year colleges and
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. Some two-year degrees offered by this college are transferable. Bates operates three campuses in Tacoma, occupying a total of approximately of classrooms, shops, meeting rooms, and offices.


History

In 1940, a technical education program was founded in the basement of Hawthorne Elementary School. During the 1941–42 school year, the program was officially named the Tacoma Vocational School. In 1944, LaVerne Hazen Bates (L. H. Bates) became the school's director. In 1947, the school changed its name to the Tacoma Vocational-Technical Institute. After L. H. Bates retired in 1969, the Tacoma School Board changed the school's name to the "L. H. Bates Vocational Technical Institute." In 1991, the state separated the state's vocational technical institutes from the local
school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
s and they came under the auspices of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. In 1992, the college took over ownership of Tacoma-based
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
member station KTPS-TV from the Tacoma School District, subsequently changing the station's callsign to
KBTC-TV KBTC-TV (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area as a member of PBS. Owned by Bates Technical College. KBTC-TV maintains studios and transmitter facilities separately in Tacom ...
on October 12.


Enrollment and academics

Classes at Bates run from September to August with
quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...
-based academic and enrollment calendar. Weekly information sessions are held to help students select and develop an area of interest. Classroom settings are similar to the workplace in a related field, and students are evaluated as they would be at a business. The college claims to works closely with industries pertaining to career education areas to improve their curriculum. The college offers workforce education, continuing education, child studies programs, and apprenticeship training. Students can earn an Associate of Applied Science degree, Associate of Applied Science-Transfer degree, Certificate of Competency, or a Certificate of Training. Classes are also offered in basic studies,
ESL English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...
and
GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...
preparation. A technical high school and a
Running Start Running Start is a dual credit enrollment program in Washington, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Montana and Illinois which allows high school juniors and seniors to attend college courses numbered 100 or above, while completing high school. It is simila ...
program are available to students 16–20 years of age who have not yet earned a high school diploma. High School+ is offered to adults who seek a high school diploma. High school students who follow an associate degree path as part of their career program may receive their high school diploma without any further high school requirements, including state assessments. Worker retraining funds provide unemployed and laid-off workers with immediate access to training at Bates.


Community relations

Bates has been a part of the Puget Sound community for nearly 80 years. The college has partnerships with businesses and industry organizations, both locally and internationally The student body and employees are involved in public events, hosted at Bates and throughout the community, including an annual Veterans Day Celebration, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, and a Disability Awareness Day. Bates is also ranked as one of the best schools for Associates of Technology in HVAC.


References


External links

* {{authority control Universities and colleges in Tacoma, Washington Community colleges in Washington (state) Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Technological universities in the United States Educational institutions established in 1940 1940 establishments in Washington (state)