Pre-College Initiative

The project is launching an accelerated Logistics Engineering Technology Work-Study Summer Institute on careers in logistics engineering operations. Targeting recent high school graduates, the summer institute features a classroom component and site visits that include shadowing regional leaders in supply chain management.

Reaching High School Students

The project will leverage Columbus State’s extensive relationships with area comprehensive high schools and vocational-technical high schools. There will be a particular emphasis on schools offering Project Lead the Way, which focuses on recruiting students into STEM-related academic programs and careers.

Regional high schools comprise an invaluable first link for young people in the LET pathway. Since 2011, Columbus State has led a regional strategy, The Central Ohio Compact, which focuses on increasing the post-secondary attainment level in the Columbus region. The Compact goals include developing a system to retain students within the education pipeline by reducing or eliminating remediation, expanding early college opportunities, and guaranteeing a pathway toward a bachelor's degree through universities in the region.

In 2015, Columbus began a new pilot high school. The Metro Institute of Technology (MIT) was developed through a partnership with both Franklin University and Columbus State. MIT is a 5-year Career Tech Program. Students attending MIT have the opportunity to earn stackable credentials, including an associate’s degree within STEM career pathways.

Marysville School District, located northwest of Columbus, serves over 5,000 students, consisting of five elementary schools (K-4), one intermediate school (5-6), one middle school (7-8), one Early College High School (9-12), and one high school (9-12). Opened in August 2014, the Early College High School is a "ECHS" or STEM school where students have the option to choose a pathway for the career field that most interests them, such as Engineering, Integrated Technologies, and Health Science.Leveraging partnerships with Marysville, MIT, and the Compact’s 43 high school partners, Columbus State will reach high school students and enable them to earn college-level credit while enrolled in dual-credit courses, with the aim of entering the LET pathway. The plan will be to allow these students the ability to move into the work-study opportunity more quickly.