Unlocking Potential: How Community College Degrees Can Lead to Competitive Salaries and Job Growth- Tripat Baweja

On this episode of Life Beats with Sirisha, host Sirisha Kuchimanchi is joined by Tripat Baweja, an advisor and Director of Engineering Technology at Collin College. The podcast focuses on the evolving scope and diversity of community colleges and their growing importance, highlighting the access and upskilling opportunities they offer. There are many options available, from associate degrees to four-year programs, and to explore the range of two-year degree programs in industries like HVAC, welding, and construction.  We cover the various degree programs offered, including transfer options to four-year universities and technical certifications in fields such as cybersecurity, construction management, and more. We also discuss the affordability and quality of education, and the potential for career growth and salary compensation. The episode encourages listeners to explore the ecosystem and opportunities that community colleges offer.  We discuss the expanded offerings at Collin College, and how President Biden's recent investment in US semiconductor manufacturing could create new opportunities for workforce development.  Tripat offers advice on exploring available resources and conducting personal research to identify the best community college programs for listeners' career goals.

Tripat Baweja is a woman who has accomplished so much in her career. She has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's degree from India. Once she arrived in the US, she obtained another Master's degree. She began her career in teaching and then went into industry to gain experience. However, when she had children, she stopped working to focus on raising them. Eventually, she pursued her passion for teaching by becoming a part-time faculty member at Collin College. Later, she took on a full-time position and has been in academia for 16 years. Three years ago, she became Director of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Collin College, which has allowed her to make a bigger impact on students.

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Transcript

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:00:00]:

Hello everyone, and welcome to Life Beats with Sirisha on Radio Caravan, where your heart beats to the rhythm of success. This is your host, Sirisha Kuchimanchi. I'm a former tech executive, a podcast host and an entrepreneur. You're listening to 104.1 FM and 700 A-M-I host a podcast, Women, Career and Life, where I share stories, eyes for you to achieve your career and life goals. You can find it on any of your podcast platforms. Search up women womencareer and you can listen to what you can do to hit the goals you've set for this year. If you're a South Asian women looking for a community to achieve career and financial empowerment, meet like minded women. Decide how to have those discussions with your boss. You can join Sahita, which is you can look it up. Sahita live. Sahita live. And then you can go look. And then you should be able to join the community where you can meet other women locally or across the globe. So let's dive right into today's program. I'm really excited for this conversation because it's something that's been brewing at the back of my head. And today's conversation is about community colleges and also around the ecosystem that we have built here and the opportunities that they provide. I have Tripat Baweja who is an advisor and also sits on the board and is the Director of Engineering Technology at Collin College. And she is here to talk to us about the opportunities that community colleges provide, about the access, and they've been just expanding their scope in the last few years. And I think it's a very important conversation for us to have. And I hope many of you will have questions, find answers, and as always, the phone lines are open. You can call 2148-1733. You have questions when we are talking to Triplet so you can get them answered. So let's dive right in. Triplet, thank you for being here so much. This is so exciting because I think it's really important for us to explore the ecosystem of the community colleges that exist. What's your history? How did you end up here? Were you always in this place or what's your story?

Tripat Baweja [00:02:18]:

First of all, thank you so much, Risha, for inviting me for this program. I think this is a wonderful platform to connect with all the women, especially South Asian women, and learn about different opportunities that they are out there in the DFW area. So my story is basically I have a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from India and a Master's degree also from India. And I came to US and I did another Master's and teaching was always close to my heart. I started my career there first and then went into industry. I wanted some industrial experience. And then when I had my kids, I quit my job to raise my family and my daughters and then came back into academia again to follow my passion. So I have been in academia, higher education for about 13 years now. Actually 16, I would say. Time flies. Yeah. So when I wanted to come back, I wanted some sort of a good balance so that I could work some hours and spend some time with my family. So I started as a jump faculty, which is a part time job at Collin College. And then from there I took up full time faculty position. And then my goals motivated me to keep going further and further, finding a bigger platform to make a difference. So I took up this role of Director of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Colin about three years ago.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:04:02]:

Before we dive right into the community college, I do want to acknowledge something. You said you made a life choice at one point, right, to spend some time with family. So for those of you who may be listening, who might be at work, or who might be in transition, or maybe a stay at home parent, be it a man or woman, there are opportunities for us all to go back to the workforce. I myself was a stay at home mom. I've gone through a layoff. So it's just a step if you're feeling anxious about it or if you're looking forward to it. All I can say is the doors are open, there's a whole wide world open, and the opportunities are endless, whether you decide to venture out on your own or if you decide to venture out and look in that. And that exactly leads us, I think, to community colleges. Because I do want to set this up differently. Because when I thought of community colleges till I had a conversation with you about a week ago, I always thought of it as when we talk about community college as a place where we come to either find only for students, but it's for upskilling, depending on where you're in your journey. Or it could be if you're a veteran or so many other avenues. So what is the community college ecosystem look like? What does that mean?

Tripat Baweja [00:05:12]:

So community colleges are basically two year institutes which are spread out throughout the nation. The idea behind community colleges was to have two year programs after which students can have degrees and then they can go out and work. That was one, and the other was if you are working and you want to have a career change, then you can go back to school for those two years, take another degree. It's mostly something that you would do which aligns really well with jobs which are out there. You upscale yourself and you can go out and work. And it kind of resonates really well with veterans. Also, when they come back, they already have those skills. Right. The only thing they are lacking is a degree or a diploma. So this is a very good way of getting back into workforce. Get your degree at a much cheaper price tag. Price tag is very much cheaper. As compared to a four year degree.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:06:21]:

Yeah. What is it, like one third, one fifth sometimes, depending on the institute you're going to or maybe then?

Tripat Baweja [00:06:29]:

Yeah. Well, it varies where you go. So what I can say is $62 a credit hour, right. If you are doing a 60 credit hour degree, which is an associate degree, and you take that credit hour for a resident, I'm talking about less than $4,000 for a two year degree. If you add books and lab fees and other stuff, two year degree at Collin College, it runs about less than $7,000, roughly. Okay, so that's for residents of Collin College, and you compare that with the Utd price tag, or UTA or UNT or UT Austin, where one single course is going to be probably for the amount you spend here, $7,000, you will end up doing probably two or three courses at those universities. So there's a huge difference in terms of price tag. But I want to add that the quality it's not that you are sacrificing the quality, because what these community colleges offer is not only the workforce program. That's the term that we use for two year degrees, where students are ready to graduate and jump straightway into the workforce, get a job, but we also offer what we call as transfer courses. You can do the first two years of your college at a community college, then take all those courses and go to a four year university to do your bachelor's degree. So there are both sides of it available, and the price tag is really good and the quality is same. I mean, if you're transferring to a four year university and our students succeeding, that tells you something about the quality.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:08:21]:

Yeah, because I remember when I looked at it, the four year colleges have auto transfers, right? You can transfer from Utd or UT Austin. You have agreements with different colleges. That is an auto transfer as long as you have the GPA and everything else set up. And for those of you who are looking at avenues for reskilling and coming back, maybe you're working in a job that you're not happy with or you're trying to upskill, you really want to make more either for yourself, for your bucket list, for your family. Think about community colleges. They are a much lower price point. They have classes often synced up with work times, and they have an amazing faculty because a lot of adjunct faculty also they have full time, but also adjunct faculty who work in the workforce who can teach you those fields. So when you're thinking about community college, I think it's just a potential for it, because what is interesting is community college has evolved in the last decade that I've seen, because I get this community college newsletter at home, and the kids are getting access to scholarships, to funding, and they have four year degree programs. Now, you could graduate with a bachelor's itself in some of those programs, right?

Tripat Baweja [00:09:30]:

Absolutely.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:09:30]:

And then go on. So you don't even have to just do the associates and leads. So it does open other doors.

Tripat Baweja [00:09:37]:

So, yes, Collin College has the state of Texas allowed community colleges to have bachelor's degrees? To a certain extent. So we do have bachelor's in nursing, we have bachelor's in construction management, we have bachelor's in cybersecurity, and we are in the works of adding few more. So that is a route for students to do bachelor's degree at a community college. But even with the workforce, if you do an associate degree, you can always go into a bachelor's degree or a Bat degree, which is bachelor's of applied arts and Science degree, or bachelor's of applied technology degrees. So you can do the next two years at a four year university which offers those kind of degrees and still get your bachelor's on the other side. Then typically South Asian communities always think about doctors and engineers. We never think about two year degrees. So I would like to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about the difference between the two. So engineering, I have been an engineer. I come from a family of engineers. So it's been a passion. Yes, you can do two years of engineering at a community college which offers those classes, and then you can transfer the next two years to a four year institute, like, as I said, in the area UTT or UNT or UT Austin, and finish your bachelor's of science. And you can take the route of master's and PhD in whatever you want to do. On the other hand, when you do the two year associate, which are workforce, which are degrees, which are more hands on, who make you ready to jump into a workforce right after two years, they also offer those opportunities to do a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. So typically we don't think those workforce degrees to have any career options or opportunities. That's a myth. And I really want to make sure that your audience understands that. It doesn't matter whether you want to go to the path of engineering, for example, the programs that I oversee, you can also take the path of technician programs, which are to your associate degree and still do your bachelor's. Now, that will not be bachelors of Engineering, but that will be bachelors of Applied Arts and Sciences, or and technology. But you can end up at the same kind of opportunity, meaning in terms of salary range, in terms of job opportunities and job growth. So there are parallel pathways. So if math and physics is not your forte, don't be disheartened. You can do engineering, but there are other options for you.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:12:25]:

Yeah, I do want to spend some time actually talking about it. So if you're tuning in right now, this is like pizza Serisha where we are talking about community colleges and the impact and the opportunities that they open. There are tremendous amount of doors that the community colleges open, like for access, because not only does it make it frankly economically viable, but also it gives people who are looking for reskilling, upskilling, entering or maybe you're not quite sure where you want to be. I mean, I don't know. At 16 and 18, if all of us knew what we wanted to do, very often we followed certain pathways. And if you're unsure, there's so much to explore in the colleges. So I do want the phone lines are open because I think this is a tremendous opportunity for you to talk to someone. Japat is on the Board of Advisors and is the director of technology in Colin College in the engineering technology. So you can talk to her and ask her questions directly about what the colleges are like and this is not restricted to Colin College or any of it. She could talk about just the ecosystem and opportunities that exist around the Dallas port but anywhere else in the US. The phone line number is 2148-1733. Don't hesitate to call 2148-1731 thing. I think we should spend time exploring. We talked about four year colleges, but community colleges ecosystem, it does provide the four year opportunity, but I think its uniqueness is in the two year access that it gives. Because I remember meeting this young man when I was judging one of the robotics competitions and he went to Allen High School and almost all school systems. And even when you talk about the community that we live in, our mindset is very much the four year education. I mean, I have kids. I cannot deny the fact that that's how I think too. But not everyone wants to do that, may not be able to do that. So what he did is he liked working in construction and he liked working outdoors. So he knew he didn't want the four year thing. So he ended up doing like in Allen, they have the Steam center which you can get associates, those of you listening, you have to check within your school systems because they might have some kind of community college partnership program where you can get a two year program. So he ended up getting that and he worked, I think in the HVAC systems, in all construction site. So it gives him a highly skilled job, a highly technical job, pays extremely well and he likes being outdoors. He doesn't want to be tied to a desk. So it satisfies both the criteria. So for those of you who are thinking of doing something else, think about what other opportunities. So how do kids or even parents who might be advising children, how do they think about what opportunities that gives access to like say you are in Louisville or you're sitting in Denton or Duncan, wherever in the Metroplex or maybe some part of the US. What opportunities, what other things can I do beyond just the standard engineering? Engineering, technology that maybe art, maybe something else? What does it give me?

Tripat Baweja [00:15:31]:

So basically I think my recommendation would be to go talk to your career counselor. So sometimes I know students don't want to go and talk to them, thinking that they don't know anything. But I think that's the first step. Parents and students, if you are interested in something which you don't see the traditional whatever is being offered to you, ask. And Google, google is such a big platform, something which we never used to have, but that is research. Research. See what is out there, what is available in the market out there. This is like you are shopping for your career. So something that resonates with you. So asking, researching is your first step. And then reach out. Don't hesitate to reach out. I'm pretty sure my counterparts on every community college would be happy to talk about what kind of programs are being offered. It's not only just engineering kind of thing, or electronics or the things that I oversee, but there's HVAC, there's welding, there's construction, there is medical billing. There is so many different kinds of medical related fields which are two year degrees, and then there is cyber related fields which are two year degrees. There is so much demand of such fields. And every community college just wants to offer those kind of programs which will cater to the industry close to them. So wherever you are living, look around. Look around, which is your community college closer to you, and see what kind of programs do they offer. They would most probably be trying to cater to the needs of the local industry, and you can find what resonates with you from there.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:17:20]:

Yeah, and I know we're spending a lot of time talking about sort of the Stem ecosystem, but there's a lot of opportunities outside the Stem ecosystem. The community colleges also have and I'm drifting back to Stem here, but I know, like, when I used to meet people who are training for wanting to be a firemen or police, they have classes there for those as well. They have for child development, for I mean, think of any degree. There's probably a community college component there. Either you come out with an associate, you come out with a skill which is actually employable. Because oftentimes think about it. If you're in a four year college I'm going to play devil's advocate here. If you're in a four year college and you're just going through the college system, in two years, you may get an internship, but you're not employable. Oftentimes when they go through these associates, these sort of dual programs through college, they come out with some certificate, food handle certificate. Like, I know that where they have catering programs, they have food handler certificates, which is better than just starting at the entry level in McDonald's. It could be EMS certification. It could be being able to some kind of restaurant. There's so many certifications that make you employable. So depending on whether you want to exit the workforce and become full time employed there, you decide to pursue a four year degree and you want to take a part time job. Well, now the part time jobs accessible to you are higher paying than the ones you would have gotten if you had just come out with a high school degree right now. Maybe I'm just throwing numbers. Don't hold me to these numbers. Say you get $1012, maybe you get $15 per hour. So the Delta adds up pretty quickly. And if you are getting them at a community college through your school system, they're either free because through the school system, often because you're just paying through taxes, or it is at a much lower price point. So consider all these different options and opportunities as you're looking at how you want to move forward. I think that is one of the things that really opens doors. Is there anything else you wanted to add? Because I wanted to jump into the other conversation we've been having in the last few weeks before I have because you have about five minutes so that people can start to think about it. Any other items to add from this from an access standpoint?

Tripat Baweja [00:19:30]:

So I think you already nailed it that these programs are really gems, which a lot of people don't know about. And it is a very valid path to do your two year associate, get into a workforce, start earning very good salary, and then if you are in a Stem field and you are out and working off with a two year degree, most of your companies will foot the bill for the next two years.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:19:59]:

Absolutely.

Tripat Baweja [00:20:00]:

That is another thing to think about when you are making these decisions.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:20:04]:

Yes. And even if you're considering a four year degree, you can still do your two year degree. And almost most colleges have some tie up with the local universities so that you can transfer as long as you satisfy minimum GPA. And I've known kids have gotten scholarship, international tourists have come gotten scholarship. So there is all of that. If you're tuning in, you're listening to Life Pizza Teresa. I host a podcast. Women Career and life. You can check it out and also join the community Sahita, which you can find on Sahita Live, which is a community for South Asian women, for career and financial empowerment. The conversations that I tend to have through my podcast and through the community is about empowering women to achieve leadership roles, career advancement, and being incredibly financial independent so that they can have choices and drive decisions that I think is the true heart of what we need to be doing as we work. So I hope to see you online. You can always email me or connect with me through Instagram womencareerandlife or womencarerierandlife@gmail.com, I hope you will connect. So we have about a few minutes. So Tripath and I have been talking about this other big, huge change. There's been a $30 billion investment from Texas Instruments to build these huge factories, about four to six factories at Sherman, which is in the north of Dallas. This is only the tip of the iceberg. This becomes a huge potential because President Biden passed the chip act early this year. And the first thing he spoke about in the State of the Union was about the chip act because there's $100 billion more than $100 million being invested in the US. For semiconductor manufacturing. This is all the chips that go into your cars, your diabetes monitors, your Nest controller, your iPhone. Think about any product you pick up that has an electronic as a chip. And most of us have heard about the supply chain constraints, which is what is driving this thing. It opens up a huge opportunity for workforce development, means there are going to be maybe 60,000 to 90,000 jobs at different skill levels that we need to be filled in in US. For these factories as they continue to build and get filled up. And I think that raises an amazing opportunity for a lot of people to get skilled. And that's where this community college ecosystem discussion comes, because there's the potential to combine it with ISDS change how this collaboration works. So in the two minutes that we kind of have, what do you think is the opportunity there? What should we be doing maybe for someone who's listening, who's either in the communities that want to be uplifted or is a counselor or a community leader or a government official or a business person and wants to be a part of this conversation? You can reach out to Tripet, which she'll give you her contact. You can also email me at Woman, Career, and Life, and let's continue this outline. So please take it away.

Tripat Baweja [00:22:52]:

So what I would like to say is these jobs, especially in the semiconductor sector that you had talked about, there is going to be a tremendous growth and opportunity, and there is a huge demand for the technician level at this particular point. And, of course, engineers, they're able to find engineers from the four year universities, but they're not able to find technicians. And that's where the whole focus is. And what comes into play is the programs that are being offered at different community colleges. I know we offer the programs, which is Electronic Engineering Technology Program and Robotics and Automation program, which aligns well with what the needs are. Similarly, Dallas College offers them. Grayson College Community College offers them. So wherever you are, even Tarrant offers it. Wherever you are, look into those programs. These programs are not very math or physics heavy. There is no math, higher level math that you need, not very high level.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:23:59]:

Physics that you need.

Tripat Baweja [00:24:00]:

But all you need is a curiosity and love to work with your hands. So I would suggest go look at these programs in different colleges. The job growth is potential is very high. High paying jobs. I'm talking about starting salaries off more than $50,000 based upon what GPA you are coming from and what you have done. But this is after two years and this demand is huge and very good opportunity to get into.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:24:34]:

We have few seconds. So how can they reach you if they have questions?

Tripat Baweja [00:24:37]:

Yeah, you can email me at tbaveja at colin.edu t as in tom bavaja at colin.edu and I'll be happy to answer anyone any questions that you may have.

Sirisha Kuchimanchi [00:24:50]:

So I hope you're listening and have learned a lot. See you next week at 02:00 to continue the conversation. Take care.

Tripat Baweja [00:24:58]:

Thank you so much.