Post-Secondary Planning/ College/ Careers
ACHIEVE TEXAS
This initiative uses the sixteen federally defined Career Clusters of the States’ Career Clusters initiative as the foundation for restructuring how schools arrange their instructional programs. A Career Cluster is a grouping of occupations and broad industries based on commonalities. The sixteen Career Clusters provide an organizing tool for schools, small learning communities, academies, and magnet schools. Programs of Study (POS) have been developed for each of the Career Clusters. The POS represent a recommended sequence of coursework based on a student’s interest or career goal.
States’ Career Cluster Initiative
www.careerclusters.org
This organization disseminates information on the 16 federally defined career clusters. It has published brochures as well as knowledge and skills structures (catalogs of knowledge and skills required for different occupations) for each of the 16 clusters of jobs. Both sets of publications are available online at the organization’s website.
www.collegefortexans.com
On this site you will discover everything a Texan needs to know about preparing for, applying for and paying for college or technical school. And it's all in one up-to-date, easy to navigate mega site almost as big as the state itself. And remember: $4 billion is available every year to help Texans attend college.
U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook
www.bls.gov/oco
This nationally recognized resource offers information on job responsibilities, earnings, working conditions, and job prospects for the future.
O*NET (Occupational Information Network)
online.onetcenter.org
Also available in schools and libraries, O*NET provides full information on occupations, including compensation, employment prospects, and skill matching for students. Information on compensation is available on a state-by- state basis.
Reality Check
www.cdr.state.tx.us/RealityCheck/
This site allows students to search for careers starting with the expenses they need to cover, the salaries they want to make, or their career choices.
College Tech Prep of Texas
www.techpreptexas.org
Tech-Prep is a way to start a college technical major in high school. In a Tech-Prep program, you begin your course of study in high school and continue in a community or technical college. The result is a certificate or associate degree in a career field.
Texas Workforce Commission
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is the state government agency charged with overseeing and providing workforce development services to employers and job seekers of Texas.
Online Colleges in Texas
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/texas/
As the largest state in the contiguous U.S., Texas has an abundance of fully and partially online post-secondary programs.