Excellence in Educating the Future of Chandler
Chandler’s excellent education system has been a key component in the location and expansion of Chandler’s robust business community. The dynamic Price Road employment corridor is home to major corporations that include Intel, Wells Fargo, PayPal, Infusionsoft, Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital ATK), General Motors Innovation Center and many others who obviously deem the community’s shining educational possibilities a plus.
Medium to large companies place a premium on strong schools not only for the talented workers they produce, but also to give those employees comfort knowing they can raise a family in a successful educational setting. Preparing a workforce of the future is a key component of the Chandler Chamber’s Education & Workforce Development Coalition’s mission. Each year, the Chamber brings regional educators and business leaders together to develop steps on how to build the workforce of tomorrow.
K-12
The Chandler Unified School District, the city’s largest, serves more than 41,000 K-12 students each year. It has received countless honors and awards, with more than 70 Arizona A+ and National Blue Ribbon Awards since 1983. They are rated the No. 1 K-12 school district in Arizona for the past two years, based on data from Niche rankings.
Students consistently score among the state’s best in college-entrance exams with CUSD graduates, during the past school year, earning more than $92 million in scholarships and 26,000-plus hours of college credit through various dual enrollment and college-level testing programs. Four additional districts cited for academic honors also serving portions of Chandler are the Kyrene Elementary School District, Tempe Union High School District, Mesa Public Schools and Gilbert Public Schools, all with solid reputations throughout the state.
Private and charter schools also offer additional choices for K-12 educations and include Chandler Preparatory Academy, Legacy Traditional School, Great Hearts, BASIS Chandler, Primavera Online and Champion Chandler – many winning state and national recognition in academics. Parochial schools such as Seton Catholic Preparatory, Tri-City Christian Academy and Valley Christian High School all add to the impressive list of educational options.
Higher education
Highly regarded, Chandler-Gilbert Community College is part of the Maricopa County Community College District. These campuses provide classes to approximately 220,000 each year throughout the county. They provide an affordable resource for those pursuing degrees as well as learning workforce skills. Northern Arizona University has partnered with the college to offer a concurrent enrollment program in Nursing.
The Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Institute at Mesa Community College collaborates with high-tech and aerospace industries to provide the most up-to-date training for degrees and certifications in areas such as electronics, drafting, automation and machining and welding.
The Chandler area is also home to a number of private educational institutions including Argosy University, Southern University, University of Advancing Technology and University of Phoenix. The University of Arizona’s campus in downtown Chandler recently added course work in the areas of cyber operations, human services, informatics and network operations. In addition, the university will offer an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity to keep cutting edge learning right here in the Chandler community.
Nationally acclaimed Arizona State University located its Chandler Innovation Center in the city core. And from there, the university’s Polytech campus is located a few miles to the east while the main Tempe campus is a short drive to the west.
With such an emphasis on delivering quality talent to the local workforce, this ongoing community collaboration is another key reason Chandler holds the reputation as the Innovation and Technology Hub of the Southwest.