Formed in 1994, the Community Colleges for Innovative Technology Transfer (CCITT) is a national consortium of community colleges committed to incorporating innovative technological dimensions into existing and future educational programs and services. The twelve member colleges participating in this initiative are affiliated with NASA centers or Department of Defense locations. Collectively, these participating institutions enroll over 400,000 students annually and are located in areas with a high concentration of aerospace companies employing over 250,000 technicians and aerospace specialists.
In 2002, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a three-year grant to CCITT to establish a National Aerospace Technical Education Center, thus SpaceTEC® was formed. SpaceTEC® will formalize aerospace technician education nationally and establish a skills-based standards program that has industry-wide endorsement.
The Center will sponsor regional and national advisory committees, national articulation with K-12 and post-secondary institutions, a national professional development organization, a formal certification process in conjunction with the National Skills Standards Board, innovative faculty development, resources for national dissemination, coordinated curriculum development, and instructional materials with space-related themes for non-aerospace disciplines such as English and Humanities.