If you are 16 years or older, not enrolled in secondary school, do not have a high school diploma or the equivalent or want to learn to speak, read and write the English language, Hillsborough County Public Schools offers the Adult and Career Services Center. It is a one-stop shop that promotes education and training opportunities.
Hillsborough County Public Schools offers educational career counseling and academic advising, which is available for free to assist students with enhancing their knowledge, as well as an alignment of resources to meet education and career objectives. Financial aid assistance and funding resources for grants and agencies are available.
There are eight Adult Education sites in Hillsborough County, including Brandon High School and Plant City High School. Each location offers Adult Basic Education (ABE), high school credit, General Educational Development (GED), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and family literacy.
Career Pathways, an initiative for Adult Education students, provides career development standards, digital literacy and workforce preparation activities designed to be integrated in the ABE, GED and ESOL curriculums.
In addition, Hillsborough County Public Schools offers four technical college sites which offer education in apprenticeship, business and marketing management, early childhood education, health science, hospitality and tourism, industrial trade and manufacturing, information technology and public service.
Career Pathways for the potential technical college student provides support services for students to transition into postsecondary education, apprenticeship programs and the workforce. Students learn to locate resources, navigate, organize and plan for their educational and career goals.
According to Janet Richards, adult technical counselor, “Adult Education is now offering a variety of Integrated Education Training (IET) programs, which allows students to complete an Adult Ed program while enrolled in a technical training program.”
Richards added, “We offer day, evening and online options. Students can contact an Adult Education site directly regarding their registration process. There is a $10 fee for the placement test and $45 for each block (semester). We follow the district’s calendar, but Adult Education has an open-entry and open-exit enrollment, which means you can join anytime.”
In the past school year, there were 14,000 students in Adult Education.
Richards said, “We are one of the largest Adult Education programs in the nation.”
The diploma you receive will be accredited and accepted everywhere.
For more information, please visit www.hillsboroughschools.org or call 813-231-1907.
