ASU offers free transportation engineering program for high school juniors, seniors

Start this summer: Earn college credit online, prepare for transportation degree

ASU high school transportation engineering programs have included trips to the Valley Metro Light Rail facility, municipal transportation centers and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Photo by Jessica Hochreiter/ASU

By Terry Grant |
June 02, 2020

A free, online U.S. Department of Transportation program for high school juniors and seniors is being offered for college credit at Arizona State University in the upcoming school year.

The nine-month program, offered through the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, will give students an opportunity to explore transportation and engineering-related careers and pathways. The program covers transportation engineering in channels that range from designing municipal infrastructures for pedestrians, bikes, cars and light rails to the software systems that manage those transportation modes. Participants will also get exposure to aerospace engineering design and management. Registration closes June 10, but may be extended based on placement availability.

The fall semester will include online workshops with parents or guardians on topics such as college readiness, financial aid and completing the college application process. The spring semester will be a mix of online and in-person programming to explore transportation and engineering related careers and pathways, depending on COVID-19-related social distancing precautions.

Students will also complete a capstone project, giving them a chance to develop real-world solutions to engineering challenges. Workforce development trainings, such as OSHA 10 and other certification programs that may qualify students for jobs and internships, will be available.

Eligible students must be Arizona residents entering grades 11 or 12 in the fall 2020 semester; must have a minimum, unweighted GPA of 2.5 at the time of registration; and must be proficient in college algebra and ready to enroll in online, college precalculus by August. The ASU college credit course will be offered for free to program-registered students. Students not yet algebra proficient may take college algebra online, also for free, upon admission to the program beginning on June 15.

Students who’ve completed AP calculus can participate in the program without enrolling in the ASU course.

For more information or to register, visit ASU’s NSTI Scholars Program.