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tah’s young and educated workforce is a major attraction for companies thinking of relocating to the state. Utah |
ranks tenth in the nation in the percentage of adults who have completed high school. Plus, 28 percent of Utahns have four-year college degrees and higher. Utah is expected to have the nation’s fastest growing college enrollment through at least 2007.
Utah’s average class size is large when compared to other states, yet excellent results are achieved. In fact, Utah ranks 9th in the states for public school spending per $1,000 of personal income. Utah also ranks 9th among the states for per capita direct general expenditures of state and local governments for education.
Over twenty years ago, Utah implemented the Core Curriculum Program, which played a major role in improving the state’s education system and in raising student ACT scores. Since 1994, ACT college entrance examination scores in Utah have risen twice as fast as the national average. Sixty-eight percent of Utah’s high school graduates took the ACT in 2005, which is also well above the national average. Utah public school students have the 10th highest average Advanced Placement (AP) exam scores in the nation. It is no wonder that the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gives Utah a grade of “A” for how well its schools prepare students for college.
Utah has 40 public school districts, 100 private/parochial schools, 53 charter schools, ten public four-year degree-granting universities and colleges, and four private higher learning institutions. Of these, three are major research universities and two have law schools.
Higher Education
Founded in 1850, the University of Utah is Utah’s flagship institution of higher education. It is a major academic, research and health science university that offers majors in 77 subjects at the undergraduate level, along with more that 45 teaching majors and minors, and more than 95 major fields of study at the graduate level. With enrollment at more than 29,000, the U specializes in many subjects ranging from genetics to ballet. It also focuses on “technology transfer,” which moves cutting-edge research into the business world. In 2003, external funding jumped to almost $286 million, much of which was designated for research. www.utah.edu
Utah State University in Logan is best known nationally for space-related research. Its College of Education is ranked in the top 50 in the nation. The university is also known for its expertise in agriculture, natural resources, and biotechnology. The university (enrollment 23,000) secured a record $ 138.4 million in research grants in 2003. www.usu.edu
Brigham Young University, Fall 2005 daytime enrollment 32,920, the nation’s largest church-sponsored private university, is located in Provo. BYU is 21st in the country in number of National Merit Scholars enrolled, ahead of Duke and Penn. It is also home to the J. Reuben Clark Law School and Marriott School of Management, both ranked in top 40 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. About half of BYU’s students have lived outside of the United States and three-fourths speak a language other than their native tongue. BYU plans to open an expanded Salt Lake Center campus in downtown Salt Lake City in conjunction LDS Business College. www.byu.edu
Nearby in Orem is Utah Valley State College (enrollment 24,487) which U.S. News & World Report has ranked among the top four Best Comprehensive Colleges in the West for the past three years. According to the 2005 Utah Foundation Report, UVSC bachelor degree graduates are earning higher salaries during their first year after graduation than those from any other college or university in Utah. www.uvsc.edu |
Westminster College (enrollment 2,500) is Utah’s only private, comprehensive liberal arts college. The college offers undergraduate degrees in 35 majors and master’s degrees in business, nursing, education, and communication. Westminster prepares its students for success through a strong foundation of liberal education combined with cutting-edge programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Westminster as a top tier institution. The college has also been ranked as both a “best value” and a “best college” by the Princeton Review. www.westminstercollege.edu
Salt Lake Community College (enrollment 24,000) serves some 60,000 students each year through credit and non-credit courses and workshops, making it the largest institution of higher education in Utah. SLCC has 14 sites throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Courses are offered in both traditional and accelerated semesters, during the day, at night, and on weekends. Students receive personal attention with a student to faculty ratio of less than 20 to 1. SLCC has been named one of the top 100, two-year colleges in various fields of study. www.slcc.edu
To the north of Salt Lake, is Weber State University with campuses in Ogden and Layton. The university offers masters’ degrees in education, criminal justice, business administration, and accounting, as well as more then 215 degree programs in arts and humanities, science, applied science and technology, business and economics, education, social and behavioral science, and the health professions. WSU Online offers more than 300 classes, four associate’s degrees, and four bachelor’s degrees. www.weber.edu
The Utah College of Applied Technology, comprised of nine regional Applied Technology Colleges campuses (ATCs) located throughout the state, provides training programs tailored to fit the specific needs of industries. UCAT was cited as a prominent factor in the Education Commission of the State’s naming of Utah as a winner of its 2005 Frank Newman Award for State Innovation. More than 58,000 students enroll in career and technical education programs each year through an ATC. www.ucats.org
There are many other full and part-time higher education institutions available in Salt Lake. Some of their names are familiar across the country, such as Columbia College (which celebrated its 30th year in Salt Lake), Everest College, ITT Technical Institute, Stevens-Henager College, University of Phoenix, and Webster University. Others are just available in Utah, such as Eagle Gate College and Neumont University (which just graduated its first class). Perhaps the most unique is Western Governors University, an accredited online university based here in Utah. WGU utilizes technology to provide distance-delivered, competency-based degree programs in three areas: information technology, business, and education. See the “Utah Schools” sidebar to this article for a comprehensive list of schools that belong to the Salt Lake Chamber.
Custom Fit
Custom Fit is a dynamic partnership between the Utah College of Applied Technology, its college campuses, select sister institutions across the state, and the local business community. This unique program offers companies and their employees training and development, customized to meet their specific needs from technical training and
safety certifications to computer and management skills—and does so at an affordable cost. Custom Fit representatives work with many types and sizes of businesses. www.ucats.org/aboutcustomfit.html
For more information about the state’s institutions of higher education, contact the Utah System of Higher Education at 801.321.7100, or at www.utahsbr.edu. For information about the state’s K-12 public schools, contact the State Office of Education at 801.538.7500. |
