The conversation around high school education often centers on college acceptance rates, but a growing number of schools are finding a bright spot in another direction: career and technical education. At Eldorado High School, the automotive program has transformed into a leading example of how public schools are successfully training the next generation of highly skilled workers for a technology-driven world.
This isn’t your grandfather’s shop class. The automotive technology program at the El Dorado campus, part of the Socorro Independent School District in Texas, is an accredited powerhouse. The program earned its second Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) reaccreditation in 2022, a seal of quality that only the highest-standard auto service schools attempt to achieve. The accreditation ensures that the curriculum and facilities meet stringent industry standards, providing students with classroom instruction and hands-on training in real-world learning environments.
The success stories are already rolling in. One El Dorado High School senior found employment at AutoZone, applying the skills he learned in class directly to his job. Across the three high schools in the district that participate in the program, over 1,200 students are gaining this competitive edge, working with innovative tools, two and four post lifts, and alignment machines that align directly with industry standards.
The need for these programs could not be more urgent. Nationally, the demand for new technicians far outpaces the supply of graduates. The industry requires an estimated 795,000 new automotive, diesel, and collision repair technicians between 2023 and 2027 to meet the demand caused by growth and retirements. In Texas, where the Eldorado program operates, the state projects an annual job opening rate of 10% for auto mechanics, which translates to over 62,000 available jobs by 2030.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) provides a powerful pathway to meet that demand while significantly boosting student outcomes. In fact, students who concentrate their coursework in a CTE pathway graduate high school at a rate that is 13 to 21 percentage points higher than the average cohort graduation rate for non-CTE students. Upon graduating, these students are entering a field where the median annual wage for automotive service technicians was $49,670 in May 2024.
Perhaps most importantly, these modern programs are training for the future of transportation. Because of the recent updates to ASE Accreditation Standards, high school automotive programs are now required to teach high-voltage/electric vehicle (xEV) safety tasks and must include the proper tools and equipment to address the growing complexity of modern cars. This means students are learning how to safely work on the electric and hybrid vehicles that are becoming commonplace, setting them up for long-term career stability. An instructor noted that having an accredited program is vital because it “bridges the gap between real world needs and classroom activities.”
The Eldorado High School automotive program is a powerful reminder that preparing students for success means giving them a clear path toward economic independence, whether that path leads directly to a high-demand trade career or continues on to postsecondary education.