CareerTech campuses make list of top vocational schools
Fourteen Oklahoma CareerTech technology center campuses were named to the USA Today list of America’s Top Vocational Schools.
USA Today partnered with market research firm Statista to create the list, which judges schools on graduation rate, graduates’ salaries, years it takes to pay off the net cost, social mobility and diversity.
Tech center campuses on the list are Francis Tuttle, Gordon Cooper, Great Plains, Indian Capital-Muskogee, Northwest-Alva, Pioneer, Pontotoc, Southern, Tulsa, Western, Caddo Kiowa, Eastern Oklahoma County, Kiamichi-McAlester and Meridian.
The full list and more information is on the USA Today website.
Metro Tech grad balances surgery and service
For Jessica Cifuentes, problem-solving has always been at the heart of her journey.
As a teenager in Oklahoma City, she discovered engineering through free STEM camps, where she learned that engineers are designers — people who see problems and create solutions. That lesson shaped her future, pushing her to explore careers in which creativity, science and service intersect.
Cifuentes grew up in Oklahoma. She attended ASTEC Charter Schools and, as a sophomore, enrolled in the Biomedical Sciences Academy at Metro Technology Centers. The three-year program introduced her to the intricacies of the human body and sparked a new dream: to one day work in medicine.
“I realized the human body is the most complex system ever designed,” she said. “The idea of identifying problems within it and fixing them inspired me.”
Read more on the Oklahoma CareerTech website.
SkillsUSA Oklahoma honored for excellence
SkillsUSA Oklahoma recently received the Silver Standard of Excellence from the national program.
The SkillsUSA State Standards of Excellence Program honored 47 states in 2025 for their efforts to ensure the association has policies, procedures and structures in place to deliver a high level of service to members.
The Silver Standard of Excellence recognizes states for assuring the sustainability of a healthy SkillsUSA association.
SkillsUSA Oklahoma had 18,270 members in fiscal year 2025.
For more about the CareerTech student organization, visit the SkillsUSA Oklahoma website.
CareerTech leading in AI training in Oklahoma
Oklahoma CareerTech leaders told The Journal Record that the state system is working hard to prepare students to work with artificial intelligence in response to a survey ranking Oklahoma low on AI preparedness.
Industry partners in energy, aerospace, technology, agriculture and health care are seeking AI training, and CareerTech has responded with AI certification programs, said Cori Gray, director of student success at Oklahoma CareerTech.
“These are high-demand, high-wage positions, and there are companies large and small that need people to actually create the prompts to produce information that is accurate and relevant, and that is a very specialized task,” she told the newspaper.
Read more on The Journal Record website.
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State Agency Assistance at a Glance
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
OK Career Guide Training Opportunities
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