Kaw Area Technical School

 

 

Kaw Area Technical School is a part of the USD #501 Topeka school district. Area school districts pay tuition for their students to attend KATS in order to receive training in high school in a variety of careers. WRHS students in good standing may attend KATS during their junior and/or senior year and receive high school credit towards graduation. The Auburn-Washburn School District pays the tuition and provides bus transportation for its students to attend KATS for half of each school day. Students take the KATS training program in the mornings and their required courses at WRHS in the afternoon. Graduation from high school and the KATS program are timed to occur simultaneously, so KATS can then place students in a job.

Some students use KATS as a bridge to a degree in college. KATS has a joint degree program with all of the community colleges in Kansas as well as Washburn University. Students can earn college credit towards an Associate Degree while earning credit towards their high school diploma. The number of credits that transfer to a community college vary depending on the program in which a student is enrolled and the college to which he/she is transferring.

Washburn University has entered into an agreement with KATS that allows students to not only transfer credits towards an Associate Degree, but also pay reduced tuition of $75 per credit hour rather than the current rate of $164 per credit hour. This can be a potential savings of thousands of dollars in tuition expense. The following schedule shows the number of transfer credits allowed in each KATS program and the Associate Degree programs to which those credits would apply: