Treating students as professionals from day one

Since its founding more than 100 years ago, Ranken Technical College has trained students for successful careers in technical fields. While technology may have changed since 1907, the college’s job-focused mission has remained the same. From the day students start at Ranken, the school treats them as professionals, blending hands-on work with classroom lessons and emphasizing the values, behaviors and work ethic that employers look for.

In the above video, Donald Pohl, president of Ranken Technical College, discusses the school’s approach to technical education and its early college initiative, the Dual Enrollment Program.

Ranken has partnered with St. Louis public schools to offer the Dual Enrollment Program as a way to help promising younger students get a jump on their careers and lessen the financial burden of a college education. Through the program, low- and middle-income high school students can begin Ranken classes for free during their senior year, putting them on track to earn an associate’s degree and be ready for the workforce a year after graduation. Support from Bank of America is enabling Ranken to expand the program from the city of St. Louis to nearby Lincoln County and eventually into other communities in Missouri and Illinois. The funding is part of Bank of America’s $1.25 billion, five-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity.

06/02/2021