With eight colleges and universities located within 80 miles, Temple has a steady stream of educated, energetic talent contributing to its workforce. A wide variety of options means that regardless of a student’s intended career path, there are options to help prepare them.
With such a wide variety of higher learning institutions from which employers can recruit talent, Temple is an ideal place to grow a business.
Community College and Workforce Training Options
Central Texas’ community colleges and technical colleges play a crucial role in preparing people for careers in manufacturing, construction, healthcare, information technology, and professional services.
With campuses located in Temple, Hutto, and Taylor, Temple College serves students seeking associate’s degrees or taking prerequisites before transferring to a four-year university. Temple College’s most popular programs include general studies, nursing, business, and health science.
Temple College also has a Workforce and Continuing Education division that provides opportunities to develop skills that help people advance in their careers or start new careers in different industries. Temple College’s Workforce and Continuing Education also partners with businesses in the area to help address specific training and development needs. They may also be able to help businesses obtain funding through the Texas Workforce Commission to pay for their services.
With campuses in Killeen and at nearby Fort Cavazos, Central Texas College caters to a large population of service members and veterans. It provides students with knowledge and hands-on training in industrial technology, agriculture, aviation, business administration, and more.
Texas State Technical College (TSTC) is another option for workforce training and associate’s degree programs with campuses in Waco and Hutto. Some of their most sought-after programs include welding, diesel mechanics, biomedical technology, and electrical. Companies like Caterpillar, Oncor, and Tesla have partnered with TSTC to provide workplace training.
TSTC also has programs catered specifically to the area’s military population. Through a partnership with Heroes Make America and The Manufacturing Institute, TSTC offers a 12-week industrial systems training program that prepares transitioning servicemembers, veterans, reservists, and military spouses for manufacturing careers. The region’s large military population and wealth of education institutions that cater to them provide opportunities for companies to hire skilled, dedicated workers and obtain tax benefits for employing veterans.
Central Texas Universities with Four-Year Programs
With over 20,000 students, Baylor University is the largest university within a short drive from Temple. In fact, Baylor is the largest private university in Texas by enrollment, leading the next-largest by over 8,000 students, and is one of Texas’ top research universities. Some of Baylor’s most popular degree programs include nursing, biological sciences, marketing, finance, communication, and health science.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, located about 10 miles from Temple in Belton, is another private university that produces many healthcare professionals. In 2022, almost 25% of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s graduates received nursing degrees and another 8% received degrees in clinical psychology.
Texas A&M University-Central Texas is the Killeen branch of Texas A&M with almost 3,500 students. The largest fields of study at Texas A&M-Central Texas include multidisciplinary studies, business, computer and information sciences, and humanities, In addition to their degree programs, they also offer undergraduate certificates in fields such as cybersecurity and data analytics.
Texas State University Round Rock Campus offers upper-level undergraduate courses for students who have taken prerequisites at a community college or another university, including Texas State’s main campus in San Marcos. They also offer graduate degree programs.
Medical and Healthcare Education
Teaching and training health and life sciences professionals is a top priority for many education institutions in Central Texas.
In recent years, Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine has partnered with Baylor Scott & White Health and opened a Temple Campus in 2023. With over 600 beds and the only Level I Trauma center in the region, Baylor Scott and White is a great place to complete a medical residency.
Baylor College of Medicine is not only the least expensive private medical school in the nation, but it’s also a top-25 graduate school for biomedical sciences. Since 2014, more than 99% of Baylor students have passed the United States Medical Licensing Examination’s Step 1 exam, compared to 95% of students nationally.
Baylor Scott and White’s McLane Children’s Hospital, Temple’s VA Medical Center, and Temple Rehab Hospital also offer many opportunities for healthcare professionals to start their careers.
In addition to providing nursing and health science associate’s degrees, Temple College also runs the Texas Bioscience Institute (TBI) — an innovative program which provides the opportunity for highly motivated high-school students to earn credit hours in a STEM-focused curriculum while gaining hands-on research experience.
Many students in the TBI program are even able to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree, giving them a head start in college and setting them up for a successful career in the healthcare industry. The TBI program is available to public, private, charter, and homeschooled students from Temple and nearby areas.
If you’re interested in exploring opportunities to tap into Temple’s growing workforce and expand your business, contact us to set up a meeting.