Trading places: Education options

BY OYAOL NGIRAIRIKL AND MARK RABAGO 
Journal Staff, Saipan Correspondent

Across Micronesia, career and technical education is being reshaped by home-grown institutions in an effort to meet the region’s workforce needs head-on. 

In Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, three institutions — the GCA Trades Academy, Guam Community College, and the Northern Marianas Technical Institute — are investing in people, programs, and facilities that train islanders for essential roles in construction, healthcare, broadband, and beyond. 

While each school takes a unique approach, all share a commitment to creating opportunities close to home and building resilient local economies through hands-on learning, strategic partnerships, and a belief that meaningful careers begin with access to the right tools—and the right support.

Since its founding in 2006, the GCA Trades Academy has carved out a key role in building Guam’s construction workforce.

“We started with no money,” said Herbert Johnston, education director, who’s been there since the beginning. “We got a $30,000 grant. I spent $17,000 buying books, and I hired an instructor who did our first class on October 16, 2006.”

Despite early doubts — some tied to speculation about the long-delayed military buildup — Johnston never saw the Academy’s mission as temporary. “Whether there’s a military buildup or not, we would still continue to operate,” he said. “There’s always construction work on Guam.”

One of the academy’s early and enduring strengths has been its intentionally designed classrooms: bright spaces with large windows and standalone air conditioning units. Those choices turned out to be critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. With better air circulation and smaller class sizes, the academy was able to continue in-person instruction even as other institutions shut their doors.

Since opening, it has issued more than 5,000 certificates through its flexible, competency-based model. Students complete individual modules in any order — an approach that works for high school students, adults looking to upskill, and experienced professionals seeking new certifications.

“We’ve had electricians taking HVAC courses, business managers in our classes, even medical doctors,” Johnston said, illustrating the program’s broad reach.

Classes are taught by active tradespeople not full-time faculty, who complete a required instructor training course before stepping into the classroom. That model ensures students learn directly from professionals who understand the real-world challenges of the work. Tuition is kept affordable, at roughly $80 per week.

Built-in flexibility means students can pause their coursework and return when ready, without penalty. That’s especially important for working adults, Johnston said, and is part of why completion rates remain strong.

The academy is now looking to expand. Plans are in the works to purchase a neighboring building to accommodate more students and meet growing demand for construction training. The expansion comes as the academy continues to work closely with federal agencies. A grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior helped fund the existing facility. On a recent visit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — part of DOI — held a class on-site, one example of how the facility supports a broad range of workforce training.
 
The academy also partners with Guam Community College and other island stakeholders to strengthen the labor pipeline. Since 2011, it has supported U.S. military civic action teams in Palau, where it helps implement apprenticeship programs, expanding its impact across the region.

Johnston said he believes Guam needs to think strategically about its workforce future. “We should learn from history and figure out a ‘metabolic number’ — how many skilled workers the island actually needs — and build up to that,” he said. “If the Philippines can export nurses and carpenters, we can do the same thing.”

That includes encouraging islanders who gain experience abroad to return home with new skills and perspectives.

By blending affordability, adaptability, and practitioner-led instruction, the GCA Trades Academy has established itself as a flexible, community-rooted institution — preparing students not just for today’s jobs, but for long-term careers in a fast-evolving construction industry.

“When an opportunity opens its doors — and it’s not open forever — you’d better be ready,” Johnston said. “What we’re doing is preparing people for the opportunities out there in construction.”

Over the past five decades, Guam Community College has transformed from a vocational-technical high school into a cornerstone of workforce development, offering industry certifications, associate degrees, and even a bachelor’s program.

The roots of GCC date back to 1966, when the Guam Vocational-Technical High School opened on the current Mangilao campus. In 1977, Public Law 14-77 officially established the institution as Guam Community College. Scientist Maryly Van Leer Peck, then dean of the Community Career College of the University of Guam, played a key role in its formation. The new college consolidated adult education, apprenticeship training, and vocational programs previously managed by UOG and various government agencies.

Initially serving both high school and postsecondary students, GCC continues to meet a wide range of education and workforce needs. Its career and technical education programs are integrated into Guam’s public high schools, allowing students to earn college credit through dual enrollment and get a head start on postsecondary education.

Over the last decade, GCC has undergone major campus improvements. One of the most recent additions is the 12,500-square-foot, typhoon-resistant Multipurpose Auditorium (Building 300), which opened in August 2023 and is partly funded by a $1.19 million FEMA grant. The facility now serves as a space for both student and community events. Other highlights of campus development include the LEED Gold-certified Learning Resource Center, the Anthony A. Leon Guerrero Allied Health Center, a two-story Student Center, the renovation and expansion of buildings 100 and 200, the Gregorio G. Perez Crime Lab Annex.  and the Foundation Building. The design for the renovation and expansion is also underway for Building 600, home to GCC’s construction technology classrooms and work bays. NOTE: This is Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding that has since been defunded. Alternate funding is being explored.

This ongoing expansion—both in infrastructure and academic offerings—reinforces GCC’s role as a hub for skills-based education on Guam and in Micronesia.

In May 2025, GCC launched its Associate of Science in Nursing program to address Guam’s critical nursing shortage. The program, announced during a launch event at the Mangilao campus, provides a pathway for licensed practical nurses to become registered nurses. It received conditional approval from the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners in July 2024. 

The inaugural class of 20 students began coursework in March 2025 and are currently employed at health care facilities across the island. The GCC Foundation Board of Governors is covering full tuition for this first cohort, totaling $82,446.40 in scholarships. Upon graduation, students must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) to become licensed. The program aims to strengthen Guam’s healthcare workforce and reduce reliance on off-island travel nurses.

GCC also offers a Bachelor of Science in Career and Technical Education, launched in 2020. Designed to develop skilled CTE educators, the program focuses on preparing students to teach 21st-century skills using culturally responsive approaches. It meets standards set by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The program allows graduates of associate degree programs in CTE to transition seamlessly to a bachelor’s degree and pursue certification through the Guam Educator Commission for Certification. Graduates can go on to teach in K-12 schools, technical programs, community colleges, and industry settings.

As of summer and fall 2025, tuition is set at $130 per credit hour for residents, $155 for nonresidents, and $180 for international students. Tuition for GCC has not been increased since 2011. For full-time students, annual tuition and fees average about $3,414 for residents and $4,614 for nonresidents. With additional living expenses, total annual costs can reach $20,000 for independent resident students living off campus.

President Mary A.Y. Okada, who has served as GCC’s longest-tenured leader since 2007, announced she will retire later this year. Under her leadership, the college expanded both its physical footprint and academic programs, shaping GCC into the institution it is today. The Board of Trustees is actively searching for her successor to continue advancing GCC’s mission of student-centered, career-focused education. 

“The college has successfully achieved an 8-year accreditation, demonstrating its ability to provide quality education for our students. It is with this institutional focus and culture that ensure that the college is poised to continue to building capacity for our students and our region,” Okada said

Today, Guam Community College serves roughly 1,450 students and has graduated thousands who contribute to Guam’s economy and public service sectors. With a growing portfolio of programs and continued investment in student success, GCC remains a driving force in shaping Guam’s workforce future. 

The Northern Marianas Technical Institute has broken ground on its $10.1-million Career Workforce Training Facility, a multi-building campus designed to expand local capacity in skilled trades and support long-term economic development in the NMI.

Jodina Attao, CEO; said NMTech’s Career Workforce Training Facility is just a means to an end, as its students are its most valuable resource. 

“The truth is, buildings don't create change, people do. If we want to build a stronger NMI, it's going to take all of us — educators, businesses, families, policymakers, working together to ensure that this space becomes a launch pad for local talent, trade, and transformation. So let this groundbreaking be more than a ceremonial moment. Let it be a promise that no matter how dire things get for the NMI, we'll keep building, keep investing, and keep showing up for the future of our islands.”

The institute transitioned to government operations in March 2021 and reopened its doors in August 2021. This transition involved re-opening after receiving sufficient funding from local and federal governments. Tuition ranges from $2,400 to $13,000. Core fundamentals is NMTech’s cheapest tuition fee and cosmetology is its most expensive. Most tuition fees average $5,000 per cycle. 

The new training center will consist of five pre-engineered steel buildings: an administrative building, and separate structures for automotive technology, carpentry, electronics/plumbing/electrical, and HVAC/welding programs. According to HBR International, its general contractor; the 6,400-square-foot administration building will feature a fully equipped culinary kitchen and dining area, while the automotive and EPE buildings will include mezzanines to maximize instructional space.

Site development includes rainwater catchment and storage in a 10,000-gallon underground tank for backup water supply, a paved access road bisecting the campus, dedicated parking, and roll-up-door access lanes for each trade building. A generator and pump building will also be installed to support uninterrupted operations. 

Once completed, the Koblerville campus will offer hands-on training in high-demand technical fields such as welding, HVAC, automotive repair, construction, culinary arts, cosmetology, and electrical systems. NMTech officials said the project is part of a broader push to align workforce training with CNMI infrastructure needs and to create pathways into long-term local careers. 

The late Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, in his State of the Commonwealth address earlier this year, highlighted the growing broadband investments shaping the CNMI’s economic future. The administration created the Broadband Bootcamp, the NMI’s effort to ensure local residents can take advantage of the opportunities anticipated with the growing telecom industry. 
With more than $200 million from federal and private sectors flowing into broadband infrastructure, including an $81 million BEAD-funded climate-hardened underground fiber optic network reaching every home and business, and additional federal funding for satellite broadband to the Northern Islands, the NMI is preparing for unprecedented connectivity. A $93 million Google investment will bring at least four new transpacific subsea fiber optic cables — including the Proa Cable, the first named after the CNMI — making the islands a strategic hub for resilient global internet access. Citadel Pacific is also building a Google Data Center on Tinian, further anchoring the CNMI’s role in the digital economy.

Palacios underscored workforce readiness. In partnership with NMC, NMTech, and Island Training Solutions, the Broadband Bootcamp is upskilling 300 residents in fiber optic skills and job readiness for telecom careers while providing living stipends. 
“We are not just building cables — we are building careers,” Palacios said. “Together, we are not just catching up — we are leading.” This initiative ensures that locals are primed for upcoming broadband projects, maximizing economic impact and reducing reliance on off-island labor, he said. mbj