The applied and workforce baccalaureate at South Texas college: Specialized workforce development addressing economic development

South Texas College (STC), created in 1993 as South Texas Community College (STCC), has developed from a concept by visionary leaders in the region to currently offering more than one hundred degree and certificate options for students from the counties of Hidalgo and Starr, including two bachelor of applied technology (B.A.T.) degrees. These specialized baccalaureates were developed in partnership with business and industry as a direct response to regional workforce needs. The degrees, which are in the fields of technology management and computer information technologies, provide higher education access to a predominately Hispanic student population and are therefore contributing to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board goals of “Closing the Gaps” by raising higher education participation rates and by increasing the number of students earning bachelor degrees. This chapter describes the impact of two workforce baccalaureates of applied technology degrees of South Texas College on higher education access for predominately Hispanic students. The addition of the workforce baccalaureates serves as an example of how such degrees increase participation rates for minority students. (Contains 4 tables.)