November 5, 2258

East Mississippi Community College is among USA TODAY’s inaugural list of America’s Top Vocational Schools 2025.

USA TODAY partnered with the research firm Statista to create the list of the top 250 schools in the U.S. that offer vocational training that leads to a certificate or associate degree. EMCC was among 117 schools on the list to earn a 5 Star rating, the highest possible score.

The list includes traditional vocational and trade schools, as well as community colleges like EMCC that offer career technical and workforce programs of study. With more than 7,500 technical and trade schools in the U.S., the 250 schools that made the list ranked well within the top 10 percent nationwide.

EMCC offers about 50 career technical programs of study, ranging from short-term noncredit programs such as Heavy Civil Construction and HVAC to for-credit programs that lead to a certificate or an associate degree, such as Systems Based Automation, Construction Engineering Technology, Culinary Arts and Associate Degree Nursing, to name a few.

“I am excited to see our efforts at EMCC to offer a high-quality education at an affordable price validated by our inclusion in USA TODAY’s Top Vocational Schools 2025,” EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks said. “Everyone at EMCC works hard to ensure our educational programs are among the best available anywhere. We are continually looking at ways to improve, whether that is through expanding our existing programs of study, adding new programs or updating our labs and equipment.”

The list of top vocational schools, developed by Statista in collaboration with USA TODAY, was compiled by examining colleges in the U.S. using five primary metrics: graduation rate, graduates' salary, years it takes to pay off net cost, social mobility, and diversity, according to a USA TODAY article.

Data on school performance was collected by Statista through publicly available federal databases, such as the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, according to the article.

“Vocational programs – in fields like welding, culinary arts and auto repair – have grown in popularity and size. Between 2020 and 2023, trade school enrollment jumped by roughly 5 percent,” the USA TODAY article states, citing a 2024 report from Validated Insights.

During the 2024 academic year, EMCC served more than 5,100 for-credit students and 1,200 workforce trainees.

While EMCC also offers academic programs of study for students planning to transfer to a university to earn a four-year degree, a growing number of students are choosing to enroll in the college’s career technical programs.

Among those opting to pursue a career in a trade is Crawford resident Matthew Davis, who is a sophomore in the Precision Manufacturing and Machining Program at The Communiversity, where EMCC’s credit and noncredit programs in advanced manufacturing are taught.

“I chose EMCC because I knew I could get a good education in a field that pays well and finish school in half the time and half the cost of a four-year degree,” Davis said.

Vice President of Career Technical and Workforce Education Dr. Michael Busby said the college works closely with area business and industry officials to develop training programs that provide workforce skills needed locally.

“We have area industry officials who sit on our craft committees to develop our training curricula to ensure our students are learning skills that can lead to local employment,” Busby said. “We also work with industries to develop noncredit training programs specific to their needs. In some instances, we are providing training to the companies’ employees and at other times we are providing pre-employment training that can lead to a job, a paid internship or an apprenticeship.”

The need for workers with middle-skills, more than a high school diploma and less than a four-year degree, is great, according to a study by the Georgetown University’s Center on Education and The Workforce.

“To fill the shortages of credentials that offer pathways to high-paying middle-skills occupations, credential providers would need to grant an additional 712,000 certificates and associate’s degrees annually through 2032,” the CEW report states.

According to the report, these shortages fall in four occupational groups: blue-collar (360,800), management and professional office (253,000), STEM (87,500), and protective services (10,600). Early-career workers from age 18 to 35 in high-paying middle-skills earn a median annual salary of more than $55,000, according to the study, with often significant wage increases as they gain experience.

In recent years, there has been a renewed focus on career technical fields of study at both the national and state levels.

“One of the first things that manufacturers look at when considering locating to a new area or opening a new plant is the availability of a skilled workforce,” Alsobrooks said. “Mississippi has done an excellent job attracting new industries through partnerships between industry, economic development agencies and educational institutions. We’ve seen the results of that synergy in the Golden Triangle area. We are proud to be a part of that effort. Just as importantly, the employment opportunities for students in our career technical programs are great. They can take the skills they earn here at EMCC and find well-paying jobs right here at home.”

View a list of EMCC’s career technical programs of study here: https://bit.ly/47UshkK

Read the USA TODAY article here: https://bit.ly/4qE3tVu