Sierra College and Roseville Joint Union High School District are teaming up through a new dual-enrollment partnership to start building that talent pipeline early˗˗during students’ high school years.

The district recently secured $2.2 million in state grants to build cutting-edge mechatronics labs at northern California’s Oakmont and Antelope high schools, and Sierra College is investing additional resources and staffing to ensure course rigor mirrors its Applied Technology Center. Teachers will be trained by Sierra faculty this summer, with classes launching in fall 2025.

This initiative is especially critical as the U.S. ramps up efforts to reshore production, requiring a new generation of engineers and technicians who can drive innovation and help boost domestic capacity.

Program Highlights:

•    These California high schoolers earn real college credits in mechatronics engineering.

•    New labs in both high schools replicate Sierra’s facility – down to the robotics workstations and Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) stations.

•    Helps create a direct pathway to Sacramento State’s mechanical engineering program; its administrators aim to add 150+ California students to the university’s degree pipeline within three years. 

For more information, visit https://www.sierracollege.edu/.