Parents benefit from the Consortium

Parents benefit as students benefit, and students in the member schools of the PrepWork Consortium are being impacted powerfully and positively by the Tech Prep initiative.

All Consortium high schools offer at least several classes that qualify for college credit within our Tech Prep program. If your child earns credits from Skagit Valley College by taking Tech Prep courses, they will be transcripted just like any other student that is actually on the SVC campus. Eventually, your child may want to use these credits to bypass introductory classes at SVC and move onto more advanced course work, saving them both time and money. An important piece of information for a Tech Prep student to remember is: they must earn a "B" or better in a Tech Prep class to receive college credit. You may already be familiar with Running Start, which is similar to Tech Prep, but with these important differences.

Tech Prep:

• Allows a student to earn college credit without leaving his or her school, so there are no transportation costs.
• Doesn't require you to purchase any expensive college textbooks. Texts already used in your high school are used for Tech Prep classes.
• Does not charge you for college credit. All credits are free!

Often the question arises as to whether or not these credits can be used at institutions other than SVC. While every post-secondary organization has their own criteria for acceptance of credit, there are numerous examples of students transferring their Tech Prep credit to other community colleges, technical colleges, institutes, the military and even four-year schools.