Originally published at National Catholic Register
As many smaller Catholic colleges face demographic and financial challenges, a new breed of institutions is emerging: one that combines a commitment to Catholic belief and practice with more of a vocational focus.
In the Los Angeles area, Catholic Polytechnic University is hoping to become the next “Catholic Caltech” or “Catholic MIT.” In Steubenville, Ohio, St. Joseph the Worker College, which is welcoming its first class of students this fall, is offering an innovative six-year program that blends training in a trade with a Catholic liberal arts education.
Other Catholic trade schools also opened recently, including Santiago Trade School in California, Harmel Academy of the Trades in Michigan and CatholicTech outside of Rome.
These schools are tapping into a national trend. Liberal arts colleges are facing declining enrollments, due to the smaller size of Generation Z, and backlash against high tuition costs and the crippling debt many graduates face. Meanwhile, trade and vocational schools are drawing increased interest as a more affordable and practical alternative. From 2021 to 2022, enrollments at mechanic and repair trade programs went up by 11.5% and construction trades jumped by 19.3%, while culinary programs attracted 12.7% more students (according to data from the National Student
