NTI addressing the labor problem with a hybrid education model

National Technical Institute (NTI) launched the Regional Immersion Program, an iteration of its previous immersion program.

What it is: The trade school offers hybrid HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical programs that include online, video-based courses, along with two hands-on training sessions at one of their campuses in the Southwest (Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Houston).

The specifics: Anyone 18+ with a HS diploma or GED can enroll in the program, regardless of experience or location. The program takes twelve weeks and is broken up into thirty hours of online learning, followed by a twenty-hour, in-person weekend session – repeated twice, totaling sixty hours of online and forty hours of hands-on training.

Graduates receive an EPA certification and a formal training certificate, per NTI.

After completion, NTI works with students to help them find employment in their respective geographies. Specifically, they’ll refine resumes and introduce them to contractors in their network. For contractors not already working with NTI, there’s a section online to get in touch.

Why it matters: Amidst a labor shortage with 100,000+ HVAC technician jobs unfilled, implementing an online model broadens the scope of who can be reached and recruited into the program, which, should in turn, broaden the candidate pool that contractors can tap into.