By Olivia Sanchez for The Hechinger Report.
Broadcast version by Danielle Smith for Tennessee News Service reporting for The Hechinger Report-Public News Service Collaboration

Most of the guys come straight to the shop each afternoon. After long shifts at supermarkets and home improvement stores, they make their way to southwest Nashville just before 4 p.m., sometimes still in uniform, and pull into a massive parking lot shared by the local community college and the Nashville branch of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, or TCAT.

Some might rev their engines and do a few laps around the mostly clear lot first, but they all eventually take a right toward the garage.

There, as the sun begins to set on a 70-degree February day, the students in the auto collision repair night class are preparing to spend the next five hours studying.

One is sanding the seal off the bed of his 1989 Ford F-350, preparing to repaint. Another, in his first trimester, is patiently hammering out a banged-up fender, an assignment that may take him weeks. Another, who has strayed in from the welding shop, is trying to distract the guys in the program he graduated from months before.

Some others linger around a metal picnic table in the parking lot, sipping cool sugary drinks and poking fun at each other’s projects. Among them is 26-year-old Cheven Jones, taking a break from working on his 2003 Lexus IS 300.

While almost every sector of higher education is seeing fewer students registering for classes, many trade school programs are booming. Jones and his classmates, seeking certificates and other short-term credentials, not associate degrees, are part of that upswing.

Mechanic and repair trade programs saw an enrollment increase of 11.5 percent from spring 2021 to 2022, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. Enrollment in construction trades courses increased by 19.3 percent, while culinary program enrollment increased 12.7 percent, according to the Clearinghouse. Meanwhile, enrollment at public two-year colleges declined 7.8 percent, and enrollment at public four-year institutions dropped by 3.4 percent, according to the Clearinghouse.

Many young people who are choosing trade school over a traditional four-year degree say that they are doing so because it’s much more affordable and they see a more obvious path to a job.

“These kids are looking for relevance. They want to be able to connect what they’re learning with what happens next,” said Jean Eddy, president of American Student Assistance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping students make informed choices about their educations and careers. (ASA is one of the many funders of The Hechinger Report, which produced this story.) “I think many, many families and certainly the majority of young people today are questioning the return on investment for higher education.”

Eddy said that the increased interest in the trades doesn’t necessarily mean these students won’t later go on to earn a bachelor’s degree, but “simply means that they are excited, and they’re more interested in getting into something where they can feel as though they are applying their skills and their talents to something that they can be good at.”

TCAT is a network of 24 colleges across the state that offers training for 70 occupations. TCAT Nashville offers 16-month to two-year courses including diesel and automotive technology and welding and construction technology, among others. Many of them have waiting lists, said Nathan Garrett, president of the college. To accommodate increased demand, the college has added night classes and is expanding shop space.

In Tennessee, the state’s overall community college enrollment took a hit during the pandemic, despite a 2015 state program that made community college tuition free. Still, at TCAT, many trade programs have continued to grow despite the downward enrollment trend.

TCAT focuses on training students for jobs that are in demand in the region, which appeals to many students in normal times, but Garrett said the pandemic may have underscored the need for workforce relevance.

“When we look at ‘essential workers,’ a lot of those trades never saw a slowdown,” he said. “They still hired, they still have the need.” Automotive trades are always in demand, he added.

Even so, Jones’s pursuit of a degree at TCAT Nashville would perhaps be a surprise to his high school self. “My parents just basically told me, ‘Finish high school and then just work,’ ” Jones said. “I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted to do, and my biggest fear was to go to college, put in all that time and effort and then not use my degree.”

So, at 18, Jones went to work in warehouses, spending long days loading and unloading heavy boxes from tractor-trailers. But he found it unfulfilling, it was terribly difficult on his body, and he wasn’t making enough money. After just a few years, he realized he needed a job that would make him happier, hurt him less and pay him more. Trade school for a career fixing cars, he decided, seemed like the best route.

Nineteen-year-old Robert Nivyayo’s priorities became clear a bit earlier in his education, when he realized he didn’t like high school very much. He said he spent most of his free time watching YouTube videos about fixing up cars before he owned one or was even licensed to drive.

He started saving up the money he earned stocking shelves at a Publix grocery store. And around the time the pandemic hit, he bought a 2005 Mustang off Facebook Marketplace for $800 cash. It didn’t run, so he hired a tow truck to lug it to his parents’ house. He took the engine apart, outfitted it with a new head gasket and put it back together, all while his online high school classes played on his smartphone.

Nivyayo’s parents, who came to the U.S. from Tanzania in 2007, had long urged their children to go to college, he said. When he enrolled at TCAT Nashville to pursue training in auto collision repair, they were pleased: “As long as I’m going to college, that’s all they really care.”

The path made sense for him, because he could earn a credential while doing what he enjoyed, and without spending much time in the traditional classroom. He’s looking forward to the anticipated payoff, when he gets a job in an auto shop.

“I really enjoy just working on the body of the car and learning. Every new day, I just get more motivated,” Nivyayo said.

Austin Monchilov, the night class instructor, said the students are more invested in their projects if they’re working on something of their own. After they pass the initial busted-up fender assignment, they’re free to work on their own cars, he said.

Until he finishes his studies and a job offer manifests, Nivyayo is spending his evenings in the garage, picking Monchilov’s brain and taking painstaking care of every square inch of the Mustang. Even when he’s done with it, when it’s running perfectly and the silver body is pristine, he said he could never sell it. It has meant too much to him to ever give it up.

Inside the building and just a few doors down, Abbey Carlson is in the welding studio, wearing jeans with holes burnt through them and a funny cap to protect her hair. She’s the only woman in the nighttime welding class, and among few women on this side of the TCAT campus. Though welcome to enroll in these courses, women tend to congregate on the other side of the campus, where the cosmetology and aesthetics technology programs are housed.

Carlson, now 24, had initially intended to attend a four-year college, but her plans were derailed by an addiction to alcohol. After dedicating herself to recovery, she decided she wasn’t entirely done with higher education.

“I knew I wanted to do a trade, but I couldn’t figure out which one,” Carlson said. “I’m a woman, I’m young and I’m decent looking, so the world is scary. Especially in fields with men.”

After researching her options, she concluded that welding would be the safest while also offering her the highest eventual earning potential, she said. So far, she’s enjoying her time at TCAT Nashville, and she feels respected and safe.

“I love it so much. I finally have hope for the future,” Carlson said. “Finally, I feel like I’m going to accomplish something in life.”

Still, it’s not easy. Before she reports to the welding shop each afternoon for five-hour stretches of studying, she spends her days waitressing at an upscale Italian restaurant in the city.

At a campus in Shelbyville, about 60 miles south of Nashville, Jesus Pedraza, 18, is making the best of his plan B.

Pedraza thrived in high school and dreamed of studying electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. But when his mother started having medical challenges last year, he decided to stay in Shelbyville with her. His high school was so close to TCAT Shelbyville that the students sometimes walked over to eat breakfast in its cafeteria; the teachers and administrators at the high school encouraged the students to consider applying there after graduation.

After graduating from high school last spring, Pedraza enrolled in TCAT’s electrician training program. The courses equip students to work in residential, commercial or industrial settings; the curriculum is among several at TCAT Shelbyville that are seeing an increase in demand, said Laura Monks, president of the college. To accommodate all the interested people, she said they offer both day and night courses and dual enrollment for students from nearby high schools.

Now, Pedraza studies from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m, and then reports to a local Walmart distribution center, where he works from 3 p.m. to midnight each day.

He said he enjoys what he is learning and likes the guys in his class. But he still wonders what things may have been like at a four-year college.

“I would have loved the challenge of being in electrical engineering, you know, having to do all the schoolwork and just the idea of college life,” he said. “Sometimes I sit down, and I think how different it would have been if I was living in Knoxville right now. But at the end of the day, you know, it’s just the way life is. I mean, I wish I was also a millionaire, and I wish I drove two Lamborghinis. But it’s not the way it is.”

Monks said that one of the things that makes TCAT appealing to students is the possibility that, toward the end of their program, they will be able to work in their desired field a few days a week while also getting credit toward their diploma, a system known as a “co-op” across the TCAT system.

For Brayden Johnson, 20, who is in his fifth trimester studying industrial maintenance automation, the co-op program has given him the chance to work as an electrical maintenance technician in a local factory that makes tubes for toothpaste. He’s working the night shift, which comes with a slight pay bump, and is earning about $26 per hour.

He hopes to stay in the job after he finishes at TCAT this spring, he said.

The same co-op opportunity is offered to some students at TCAT Nashville. Garrett said students generally are drawn to the hands-on design of the courses and the general philosophy that “You need to get your hands on the equipment, you need to start building stuff, breaking stuff and then learn how to fix that stuff.”

The opportunity to get real work experience before they graduate is an extra perk. The employer reports back to the student’s instructor so they know where the student is excelling and where they are struggling, and can work on those weaknesses on the days when the student comes to campus, Garrett said.

Cheven Jones began studying auto collision repair in September, and said that he has already made major progress, transforming his lifelong enthusiasm for cars into real, applicable skills.

And it’s showing on his Lexus, he said. So far, he’s fixed a dent in the hood, replaced an entire door and replaced part of the rocker panel (the long strip of metal under the doors).

The game plan, Jones said, is to transform his car by the time he graduates, and have fun while doing it.

“It’s school, and I take it seriously. But you know, you come here, and it just feels more like you’re at a shop hanging out with your homies all day,” Jones said. “It’s a good feeling.”

After he graduates, he hopes to get a job in an auto body shop.

And he says he’ll keep working until someday he can afford a red 1982 Nissan Skyline R31, RS Turbo with bronze wheels — his dream car. Even if he can’t get one in perfect condition, at least he’ll know how to fix it up.

Olivia Sanchez wrote this article for The Hechinger Report.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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In the wake of Donald Trump's re-election, teachers nationwide are bracing for more censorship battles. Currently, more than 40 laws in 22 states restrict teaching about race, gender, history and queer identities.

Oregon is not immune to this trend, with 93 book-removal attempts last year, a 30-year record. Educators recently shared their experiences with censorship at the Teaching Truth forum.

Jesse Hagopian, the Seattle-based author of "Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education," said it's a topic of discussion.

"You're hearing from a lot of teachers already about what the repression looks like, but it's severe right now. You're dealing with, now, almost half of all kids going to a school where it's illegal for kids to learn the truth about U.S. history," he said.

Earlier this year, Republicans attempted to change Oregon's constitution to give parents the right to decide what materials are appropriate for their children's education. The amendment was voted down.

Lisa Stiller, a retired teacher who worked in rural and urban Oregon school districts, said it is important to give students space to ask questions about uncomfortable topics in school.

"If you think that a book with racial content has some deep issues I want to hear why. I don't want the discussion to be thrown out because it's controversial," she said.

Most attempts at banning books have been unsuccessful so far in Oregon, meeting legal challenges by the ACLU and other civil-rights groups. In September, a new rule banning Portland Public School teachers from posting anything personal or political in their classrooms was met with an official grievance from the teachers union.

Hagopian said it isn't enough to try to reverse laws that restrict teaching about racism and LGBTQ+ issues.

"We're fighting to expand Black studies, ethnic studies, queer studies, gender studies in our school so every kid can understand themselves, see themselves, and be empowered with the history of social movements they need to change this system," he explained.


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School boards are nonpartisan, but a recent trend in Wyoming shows far-right candidates are bringing national politics to local elections. Public school advocates want the focus of school boards to stay on students. Some Wyoming counties with school board races in the recent election saw campaign materials closely aligned with national politics, including slogans such as "Make Education Great Again," according to reporting from the Powell Tribune.

Brian Farmer, executive director of the Wyoming School Boards Association, said school boards have been around since the 1650s and are meant to create and fulfill a vision for a school system.

"School boards really are about communities taking ownership of their public schools," he explained. "Oftentimes, people say "we need parent voices," "we need voices of business," "we need taxpayer voices." Those are all of the voices that tend to be represented on school boards."

In 2021, a Wyoming lawmaker wrote a bill that would have required school board candidates to have a party affiliation on the ballot. The bill was not introduced. Farmer said he has seen more political action committees supporting candidates, groups of candidates running in alliance and local parties endorsing those slates of candidates.

The Wyoming Family Alliance got involved in elections this year. More than one-third of the questions on its candidate questionnaire were about gender, sex-ed or pregnancy.

Nate Martin, executive director of Better Wyoming, said this group and others have an ulterior motive.

"A lot of these groups are explicitly invested in tearing down public education and replacing it with more of a charter or voucher private-school, religious-school model," Farmer contended.

Martin added that most people in Wyoming "think that their local school boards are good."

He said candidates associated with these groups made fewer strides in the 2024 election than in 2022, and thinks communities are returning to "local conversations."

"When we get caught up in the adult issues, that's where we tend to have the problem. If we can simplify things to doing what's best for kids, then school board governance becomes a lot easier," he continued.


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In an unprecedented collaboration, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida have partnered with the Association of Private Colleges and Universities of Puerto Rico to create new educational opportunities and tackle critical workforce shortages in both places.

This groundbreaking agreement is believed to be the first of its kind between nonprofit educational associations in the country to help foster student success, innovation, and community development.

Carmen Cividanes Lago, executive director of the association in Puerto Rico, says for students, the partnership means the chance to dive into fields such as nursing, teaching, and research, addressing real-world needs in their communities while gaining the experience of studying in a different culture.

"Academic offerings and research and publications, and students being able to get involved in publications in Puerto Rico and Florida at the same time, in one go," Cividanes said. "The sky is the limit. It's fantastic what we can achieve with this sort of agreement."

Both organizations, which are part of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, represent private, independent colleges and universities within their regions. Now, students can earn degrees that might otherwise be out of reach and access specialized programs, such as double degrees in health sciences or teaching. The goal is to help propel the opportunity to solve workforce needs in both regions.

Bob Boyd, president and CEO of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, views the agreement as a testament to the adaptability and responsiveness of private institutions in meeting new demands.

"One of the things we like to say about our sector is we're nimble and we can evolve quickly to address workforce shortages and we're not asking the state for any contributions. This will all help students and help our institutions, and so we're able to do this leveraging the private sector, the non-private sector," he explained.

The partnership between the two organizations coincides with the Florida Legislature's recent adoption of a state resolution recognizing November as "Puerto Rican Heritage Month," starting this year. The resolution aims to celebrate Florida's vibrant Puerto Rican community, which numbers nearly $1.2 million, and its contributions to the state's shared identity and sense of unity.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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