History & Purpose

Texas State Technical College (TSTC) was established in 1965 as the James Connally Technical Institute (JCTI) of Texas A & M University to meet the state’s evolving workforce needs. This college was located in Central Texas at the former James Connally Air Force Base in Waco. At the time, Governor John Connally predicted that it would be "the most sophisticated technical-vocational institute in the country."

In 1967, JCTI expanded to include a South Texas campus in Harlingen. In 1969, the colleges separated from Texas A&M University and became an independent state system, with the name Texas State Technical Institute (TSTI) and its own Board of Regents. Additional campuses were created in 1970 in Amarillo in the Panhandle of Texas and in Sweetwater in West Texas. As the demand for quality technical education continued to grow, extension centers were established in McAllen (1983), Abilene (1985), Breckenridge (1989), Brownwood (1991), and Marshall (1991). In 1991, TSTI was renamed Texas State Technical College (TSTC). In 1999, the extension center in Marshall became an independent college of the system.

TSTC Today

Today, the Texas State Technical College System includes four colleges: TSTC Harlingen, TSTC Marshall, TSTC Waco, and TSTC West Texas, which has campuses in Abilene, Breckenridge, Brownwood, and Sweetwater. More than 15,000 students attend TSTC in credit programs alone.

TSTC is the only state-supported technical college system in Texas. With a statewide role and mission, TSTC is efficiently and effectively helping Texas meet the high-tech challenges of today’s global economy, in partnership with business and industry, government agencies, and other educational institutions. TSTC has high graduation rates, exceptional postgraduate success rates, and an outstanding record in graduating individuals from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Among TSTC’s strengths are its emphasis on “learning by thinking and doing” and its strong relationships with business and industry, state-of-the-art laboratories, residential campuses, and student-centered philosophy:

“We believe in people. We believe people desire to be responsible and productive citizens. We believe technology is a force to be explored and channeled by people in a productive and responsible manner for the benefit of all humankind. Therefore, we believe all people should be provided with the educational opportunity to learn the skills necessary to perform meaningful work and, thereby, pursue their goals as responsible citizens contributing to the welfare and success of their families, communities, state, nation, and world.”

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of TSTC 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.”

Vision and Values

The Texas State Technical Colleges will be a leader in strengthening the competitiveness of Texas business and industry by building the state’s capacity to develop the highest quality workforce.