174 Syracuse students sign on to tuition-free OCC P-TECH pathway

A new class of 174 Syracuse high school students is betting on a cheaper, faster route to work: a tuition-free P-TECH track at Onondaga Community College that can lead to both a diploma and an associate degree. For families, the appeal is simple, less college debt and less time to the first paycheck; for Onondaga County, it is a pipeline meant to fill jobs local employers already need.

Onondaga Community College welcomed the students during a signing ceremony held June 4 in the Gordon Student Center Great Room. WAER reported the next day that more than 170 Syracuse students had signed letters of intent to continue in the pathway, which blends high school, college and career training through the Syracuse City School District’s P-TECH model.

The program is designed for students who want a direct route into work in fields tied to the region’s economy. OCC says P-TECH allows students to earn an associate’s degree while they are still earning a high school diploma, then move into jobs with local businesses after graduation. The district describes it as a five- or six-year program, and OCC lists course options that include Electrical Engineering Technology, Health Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, CIS and RPAS at certain sites.

That workforce focus is especially important as Micron Technology moves ahead with a major semiconductor project in Clay. OCC says Micron is building what it calls the largest semiconductor fabrication facility in U.S. history in Onondaga County, a project that is expected to create nearly 50,000 New York jobs, including about 9,000 Micron jobs when the facility opens. Micron’s March 27 announcement of $35.5 million in new Central New York community investments adds to the scale of the local buildout around housing, transportation, childcare, workforce development and education.

OCC has already been investing for that demand. The college opened a $15 million cleanroom simulator in 2025 to train students for Micron and other tech-industry jobs, and it says its Micron partnership includes a $10 million cleanroom investment shared with Micron and Onondaga County, with Micron contributing $5 million over 10 years.

The college is also pointing to graduates who are already moving through the pipeline and staying close to home. One P-TECH alumna, Shew Way, started OCC classes in 2022, graduated from the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central in 2024 and completed her Mechanical Technology degree at OCC in December 2025. OCC’s early-college page says another student, Andru, earned an associate’s degree in three semesters, worked at United Radio and later moved to TTM Technologies.

WAER also reported that graduates are already landing jobs at DL Manufacturing in North Syracuse. That is the practical measure of the program’s value: not just a ceremony, but a local talent stream built to keep more students, wages and skills in Onondaga County.