Second high school joins CCRI's free advanced manufacturing dual-enrollment certificate program

10/29/2024

The Community College of Rhode Island has launched a second cohort this fall of its blossoming Advanced Manufacturing Program for high school students interested in earning a Manufacturing and Design Certificate.

Fourteen students from Mount Pleasant High School are participating in a High School Enrichment Dual-Enrollment initiative in which they are attending free courses one day per week during their junior and senior years at CCRI’s state-of-the-art manufacturing lab at the Warwick Campus to complete 18 credits to earn a Manufacturing and Design Certificate.

This initiative launched in 2023 with 11 juniors from North Kingstown High School who are now completing their certificate this year as seniors. All students who complete the program are eligible for the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship if they enroll the semester immediately following high school graduation. They also have the option to continue in the college’s pre-associate program and complete the Advanced Manufacturing and Design Associate in Science degree – a total of 27 credits – in one year if enrolled full time. There are no prerequisites for students to join.

The program has received considerable acclaim since its inception last year, including recognition in February from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who visited the college in Warwick, toured the manufacturing lab, and met with students from the NKHS cohort as part of President Joe Biden's Investing in America Tour, aimed to demonstrate how President Biden is delivering for underrepresented or minoritized communities across the country. During the visit, Secretary Cardona advocated for more career pathways and career and technical education (CTE) programming and apprenticeships, citing Rhode Island’s willingness to “provide opportunities and invest in people” while hoping the state's programming serves as a model for others.

In recognition of National Manufacturing Month in October, the college is celebrating the addition of a second school to the program and is hopeful more schools will show interest as an opportunity for high school juniors to begin working toward a career in a high-demand industry with the option to pursue a degree at CCRI.

“Mount Pleasant and CCRI are very excited to continue this program. The interest continues to grow,” said CCRI Department of Physics and Engineering Professor and Chair D. Matthew Rieger, who developed the program along with Director of Concurrent Enrollment Sandra Nolan and current Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Barbara Nauman (the college’s Dean of Business, Science, Technology, and Mathematics during the program’s development). “It’s a win-win-win.

“Our goal is to keep these students in the pipeline so they continue on to CCRI following high school and earn their associate degree. It’s a great opportunity to enroll for free through Rhode Island Promise and earn the soft skills that can benefit them in the long run. Degrees can set you apart from the rest of the field for management positions.”

Courses are taught by Engineering Technical Professor Ray Ankrom, who specializes in CNC machine programming and operation and has been with the college for more than 30 years. The students attend CCRI one day per week for what amounts to the duration of an entire school day in addition to one distance learning course.

In the summer prior to their senior year, the students will participate in an on-sight internship with General Dynamics Electric Boat, the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years and a longtime partner with CCRI’s Division of Workforce Partnerships. Over the duration of this program, students will learn everything from how to build machine parts with 3D printers to the basics of CNC (computer numerical control) and manual machining.

Since 2010, the state’s manufacturing output has increased to well over $5 billion and CCRI is confident this program will help students get a head start on earning an associate degree that will provide them the skills to be competitive in the CNC manufacturing labor market in Rhode Island and the surrounding region.

Each year in October, the International Trade Administration joins with U.S. government and industry partners to celebrate Manufacturing Month and the importance of U.S. manufacturing innovation and ingenuity to our standard of living. U.S. manufacturing is an enduring and ever-evolving sector that contributes $2.65 trillion to the U.S. economy, employs nearly 13 million American workers, and accounts for 10.3 percent of the nation’s GDP. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the manufacturing industry contributed approximately $4.57 billion to Rhode Island’s real GDP with the mean wage of a CNC machinist in October 2024 reported at $25.28 per hour.

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