“At AB Tech, I was hoping to launch ahead after years of on-the-job training, and that is exactly what happened.  AB Tech provided a mix of fieldwork and construction theory that made understandable what otherwise could have been overwhelming.  By the time I finished the carpentry program, I felt confident that I could make my intended career transition.  My current success as a builder shows that I, in fact, gained the skills and knowledge needed to run a competitive carpentry business." -Sam Pedisich

A-B Tech Construction Science is Asheville’s Green Building School, offering an array of classes in carpentry (including comprehensive renewable energy and green building instruction) as well as construction management technology (teaching students how to start and manage a construction business) and cabinetry skills.

The A-B Tech Carpentry and Cabinetmaking departments have been in existence since 1964 and the Construction Management Technology program since 2004/2005.  Several graduates currently run and own their own businesses, and many more have gone on to become licensed builders and general contractors. We have placed students into jobs which usually leverage income.  Some of the positions include project managers, superintendents, estimators, foremen, etc. In our Construction Management Technology curriculum, we offer an opportunity for the students to participate in a cooperative education class which includes work experience with a college approved employer in an area related to the student’s program of study. Responses from those employers have been favorable and high recommendations have been given to our construction students.

Read what other graduates of our program have to say about their experience.

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As a college, A-B Tech has an outstanding reputation. Here are some of the collected facts about our school:

A-B Tech activities encourage new business, assist existing business and create long-term economic growth. The college enhances worker skills and provides customized training to local business and industry. It is estimated that the A-B Tech Service Area workforce embodies about 1.6 million credit hours of past and present A-B Tech training.

A-B Tech skills embodied in the regional workforce where former students are employed increase local income by $300.7 million. Associated indirect effects increase income by another $64.5 million.

Education increases lifetime income. The average annual income of a one-year diploma graduate at the midpoint of his or her career is $30,400 or 81% more than someone without a high school diploma, and 16% more than a student with a high school diploma. The average income at the career midpoint of someone with an associate’s degree is $35,800 or 113% more than someone without a high school diploma, and 37% more than a student with a high school diploma.

A-B Tech students enjoy an average annual income increase of $162 for every credit completed.

Throughout his or her working career, the average A-B Tech student’s discounted lifetime income (i.e., future values expressed in present value terms) increases by $5.20 for every $1 invested (tuition, fees, books, and wages given up to attend).

Students enjoy an attractive 23% rate of return on their A-B Tech educational investment, recovering all costs (including wages foregone) in 6 years.