Austin Community College District’s (ACC) Technician Training & Education Network (T-TEN) program received official certification Thursday, September 15. T-TEN provides a pipeline for students to train and apply for careers with Toyota and Lexus upon completion.

“Austin Community College, we take our role in workforce development seriously. It is a collective effort from dealers and Toyota to our curriculum developers and the ACC team to make this possible,” says Dr. Monique Umphrey, ACC Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic & Student Affairs. “Students can’t just go through lab and theory. They need simulations, labs, and hands-on training. It feels good to know the amount of quality, rigor, and fidelity that goes into these programs.”

Representatives from Toyota Motor North American and the Gulf States Toyota spent a week touring the facilities at the Round Rock Campus and inspecting the program to award the certificate. Toyota executives recognized the college’s program for preparing future technicians with 300+ additional hours of hands-on training then required. 

“We hear all the time about a technician shortage, but that’s a national problem. It’s a local solution, and we need programs like these at ACC to fix the issue,” says Guillermo Lopez, Gulf States Toyota Fixed Operations Director.

Students are accepted into the program on the basis of their placement by sponsoring dealers. The first cohort of 15 students began in August 2022.

There are currently 35 locations offering the T-TEN program across the U.S. ACC is the only T-TEN program in Central Texas. 

For more information, visit austincc.edu/autotech.