Careers in the skilled trades are an increasingly attractive option for many young people today. According to Fox Business:
Trade jobs in the U.S. are in a renaissance with high demand for skilled workers and waning interest in college among young adults. The shortage of workers in the trades has driven up the pay, making those positions more attractive and the training a better payoff than a four-year college degree, in many instances.
The young people interested in this kind of work include many Catholics. Fittingly, there are a number of trade schools throughout the U.S. that offer training in skilled trades along with an academic foundation in the liberal arts, opening the door to a lifetime of personal fulfillment alongside a solid career path.
The number of Catholic trade schools is growing, with some considering the “burgeoning Catholic trade school movement” an answer to some of the crises in higher education. Sure enough, most of these schools opened their doors in the past few years or will open for the first time this fall.
For young Catholics considering a career in the skilled trades, check out these 5 Catholic trade schools.
Harmel Academy of the Trades: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Offering students “skilled trades, great books, and spiritual fraternity,” Harmel Academy is a post-secondary academy that trains men in a skilled trade and forms them in their Catholic faith.
The College of St. Joseph the Worker: Steubenville, Ohio
The College of St. Joseph the Worker forms students into effective and committed members of their communities by teaching them the Catholic intellectual tradition while training them in skilled and dignified labor: “We teach our students to think, but also to pray, to love, and to build.”
Kateri College of the Liberal and Practical Arts: Gallup, New Mexico
Kateri College seeks to unite the strengths of a Catholic liberal arts education with a vocational trade skill, with plans to open its doors to students in fall 2025. It is the only school on this list that is open to women as well as men.
The mission of Kateri College is to graduate men and women without an undue financial burden of debt who are ready to enter into the adult world understanding that God has created them for “some definite service for which He has not created another.”
Santiago Trade School: Silverado, California
Built upon the solid foundations of work, study & friendship, Santiago Trade School aims to form young men into excellent Christian tradesmen: “We are a community committed to the tough work of gaining practical jobsite wisdom as well as the spiritual wisdom that unites men to Christ.”
San Damiano College for the Trades: Springfield, Illinois
San Damiano College for the Trades is expected to open in fall of 2025 and will aim to integrate Catholic liberal arts education with practical training in a trade for young men.
Kent J. Lasnoski, formerly an associate professor of theology at Wyoming Catholic College, is working with Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield on founding the school.
