College Catalog

TSTC’s purpose or mission is described in Vernon’s Texas Education Code Section 135.01:

"The Texas State Technical College System is a co-educational two-year institution of higher education offering courses of study in technical-vocational education for which there is a demand within the state of Texas.

"The Texas State Technical College System shall contribute to the educational and economic development of the State of Texas by offering occupationally-oriented programs with supporting academic coursework, emphasizing highly specialized advanced and emerging technical and vocational areas for certificates or associate degrees. The Texas State Technical College System is authorized to serve the State of Texas through excellence in instruction, public service, faculty and manpower research and economic development. The system’s economic development efforts to improve the competitiveness of Texas business and industry include exemplary centers of excellence in technical program clusters on the system’s campuses and support of educational research commercialization initiatives. Through close collaboration with business, industry, governmental agencies and communities, including public and private secondary and postsecondary educational institutions, and the system shall facilitate and deliver an articulated and responsive technical education system.

"In developing and offering highly specialized technical programs with related supportive coursework, primary consideration shall be placed on industrial and technological manpower needs of the state. The emphasis of each Texas State Technical College System campus shall be on advanced or emerging technical programs not commonly offered by public junior colleges."