College & Career Technical Institute (CCTI) is the Pascagoula-Gautier School District’s career and technical center for high-school students. It is not a college: its day programs are for students from Pascagoula High and Gautier High, and it does not enroll adults in them. Adults looking for shipyard trades or other training in the area should see the last section of this page.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Public high-school career and technical education center, run by the Pascagoula-Gautier School District; day classes, in person |
| Who can enroll | High-school students from Pascagoula High and Gautier High. No adult enrollment in the day programs |
| Location | 1 campus: 2602 Market Street, Pascagoula, MS 39567, next to Pascagoula High School |
| Programs | 18 listed on the school’s site in 2026 |
| Credentials | No degree or college certificate of its own. Programs prepare for industry credentials such as NCCER (welding, HVAC, carpentry), ServSafe (culinary) and CNA, phlebotomy and medical assistant (with Singing River Health System); some courses have dual-credit versions with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College |
| Typical length | Two years in welding, HVAC, construction, diesel and health sciences |
| Oversight | A school of the Pascagoula-Gautier School District, under the Mississippi Department of Education; no separate accreditation |
| Cost | No tuition for district high-school students |
| Federal aid | None (high school, no tuition) |
| Opened | Building dedicated 24 August 1976 |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
Pascagoula-Gautier’s career center since 1976
CCTI sits next to Pascagoula High School. Its building was dedicated on 24 August 1976, and the school marked 50 years with an open house in August 2026, WLOX reported, when it had 18 programs and many students were earning college credit from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. CCTI describes itself as offering the “widest range of programs” and was named the 2024 Career and Technical Center of the Year by Build Mississippi and ABC of Mississippi.
In June 2026 the district secured $1.2 million in state funding for career and technical education, WLOX reported. It pays for simulation equipment in Health Sciences, which is expected to open to students from other Jackson County districts, new equipment for Metal Fabrication, and a new Aquaculture program housed at Gautier High School rather than at CCTI, with its first class in fall 2026.
18 programs, all for high-school students
CCTI’s programs of study page lists the 18 programs below. All are for high-school students. Several second-year courses have dual-credit (DC) versions, among them Architecture and Drafting II, Culinary Arts II and Welding II, but we found no statement of how many college credits each carries. Where the table says “Not stated”, the program’s page gives no length or credential, or we could not read it.
| Program (2026) | Length | Credential or college credit named by the school |
|---|---|---|
| Welding | 2 years | NCCER exam; a dual-credit version of Welding II |
| Metal Fabrication | Not stated | Not stated; shares space with Welding |
| Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) | 2 years | NCCER exam |
| Construction and Carpentry | 2 years | NCCER Construction Core and Carpentry exams |
| Diesel Service Technician | 2 years | None named |
| Health Sciences | 2 years | CNA, phlebotomy and medical assistant credentials through Singing River Health System |
| Culinary Arts | Two or more years | ServSafe and food-handler certifications; a dual-credit version of Culinary Arts II |
| Ingalls Maritime Academy | Senior year, after 2 years in any CCTI program | No credential named; leads toward an Ingalls Shipbuilding apprenticeship |
| Architecture and Drafting | Not stated | A dual-credit version of Architecture and Drafting II |
| Instrumentation | Not stated | Not stated |
| PLTW Engineering | Not stated | None; Project Lead The Way is a curriculum, not a credential |
| PLTW Computer Science | Not stated | None; Project Lead The Way is a curriculum, not a credential |
| Business, Marketing, and Finance | Not stated | Not stated; work experience while in school |
| Law and Public Safety | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports Medicine | Not stated | Not stated |
| Unmanned Aerial Systems | Not stated | Not stated |
| Educator Prep | Not stated | Not stated |
| Work-based learning | Not stated | Offered at Pascagoula High and Gautier High |
What the main programs cover
Welding and Metal Fabrication
Welding runs two years. The first year covers NCCER Core, shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) and oxyfuel cutting; the second adds welding symbols and blueprints, advanced SMAW, plasma and carbon arc cutting, and gas metal arc, flux-cored and gas tungsten arc welding (GMAW, FCAW, GTAW). Students take NCCER exams for national industry-recognized credentials; the program page does not mention American Welding Society certification. Metal Fabrication shares the welding space and is getting new equipment from the 2026 state funding, but its page has no course details yet.
HVAC
HVAC I starts with safety, construction math, piping, soldering and brazing, and basic electricity. HVAC II moves to carbon-steel piping, heating and cooling systems, air distribution, leak detection, and refrigerant recovery and charging. Students take NCCER exams in this two-year sequence. The program page does not mention the EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification, so families should ask whether students can sit for it before they finish.
Construction and Carpentry
The first year is NCCER’s Construction Core: safety, hand and power tools, construction math, reading blueprints, and introductions to carpentry, electrical work, masonry and plumbing. The second year is carpentry, with framing for walls, ceilings and roofs and installing windows and doors. Students take NCCER exams in both years, toward national industry-recognized credentials. Welding and HVAC also name NCCER exams.
Health Sciences
Health Sciences runs two years: Health Science Core, then Health Care and Clinical Services. Students also train for certified nursing assistant, phlebotomy and medical assistant credentials with Singing River Health System. The Mississippi State Department of Health’s nurse aide training list of 25 August 2026 includes Singing River Health System’s high-school program for the district’s career center, at 2809 Denny Avenue in Pascagoula, per the state list. The program is getting simulation equipment from the 2026 state funding.
Ingalls Maritime Academy
The academy is for seniors who have finished two years in any CCTI program. They spend the first block of each day at Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Haley Reeves Barbour Maritime Training Academy in Pascagoula, learning ship construction and structure, carpentry, welding and sheet metal. No credential is named. Ingalls reserves many of its apprenticeship slots for academy students, so it works as a route into a shipbuilding apprenticeship rather than a certificate program.
Diesel Service Technician
The two-year diesel program covers diesel systems and electrical and electronic systems in the first year, then engines, computerized engine controls, hydraulics, truck brakes, power trains and an introduction to welding in the second. The program page shows the ASE logo but does not name a certification that students earn, so families should ask what, if anything, students can test for. The program is listed with the district’s other two-year trade sequences at the Market Street building.
No tuition for district students
District high-school students pay no tuition: CCTI is a public school program, and we found no tuition on the school’s or district’s sites. We found no published list of lab, tool or certification fees, so ask the program. There is no published rate for students from outside the district, including for the planned opening of Health Sciences to other Jackson County districts. As a high school, CCTI has no federal student aid, veterans’ benefits or scholarships to report.
How students enroll
Students enroll through their home high school, Pascagoula High or Gautier High. Welding, HVAC, construction and carpentry, diesel and health sciences are two-year sequences. The Ingalls Maritime Academy requires senior standing and two completed years in a CCTI program. We found no published application deadlines, seat counts or current daily schedule for CCTI.
Oversight, the district’s B grade and results
CCTI has no accreditation of its own. As a school of the Pascagoula-Gautier School District, which has about 6,500 students, it falls under the Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Accreditation. The district received a B, with 659 points, in the 2025 statewide school district grades. That is the state’s accountability grade for the whole district, not an accreditation or a measure of CCTI’s programs.
We found no published completion, placement or certification pass rates for CCTI. In May 2024, 14 district seniors received phlebotomy, nurse assisting and medical assisting certifications, WLOX reported, and in May 2025 the district honored 16 Workforce Development graduates of its Singing River program, 14 of them district students.
Before you enroll
- Adults cannot enroll in the day programs. They are for students from Pascagoula High and Gautier High; adults should look at the options in the last section.
- CCTI is not a college and awards no degree or college certificate. College credit comes only through dual-credit course versions with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and we found no statement of how many credits each carries.
- The Ingalls Maritime Academy is shipbuilding training that leads toward an Ingalls apprenticeship. It is not marine mechanic or mariner training, and it is open only to seniors with two years in a CCTI program.
- Diesel Service Technician names no certification, and HVAC does not mention EPA Section 608, so ask what students can test for before they finish.
- Several program pages give few details: Metal Fabrication has no content yet, and Culinary Arts and Law and Public Safety link to separate sites, one of which needs a sign-in.
Shipyard apprenticeships and work-based learning
The clearest job route is the Ingalls Maritime Academy, since Ingalls Shipbuilding reserves many apprenticeship slots for its students. CCTI is a U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Ambassador, work-based learning is offered at Pascagoula High and Gautier High, and WLOX says the business marketing program gives students work experience while they are still in school. Health Sciences students train with Singing River Health System. CCTI offers no housing.
Adults in the area
The district also runs an adult shipyard-trades initiative, now called Hired UP, with Ingalls Shipbuilding and the WIN Job Center. It began on 21 October 2019 with welding, structural fitting and sheetmetal/joiner classes, and pipefitting was added later. It is aimed at unemployed and underemployed adults and December graduates, and more than 370 people have been placed at Ingalls and Bollinger Shipyards since it began. In 2022 the classes were free and held at night, WLOX reported, with the Pascagoula WIN Job Center as the contact. We found no published current class times, location, cost or credentials, so contact the district.
For adult basic education and high-school equivalency preparation, the district lists a Pascagoula Adult Learning Center among its departments.
For college-credit trade training, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jackson County Campus, 2300 Highway 90, Gautier, offers Welding Technology (certificate, diploma and associate degree), Precision Manufacturing and Machining, Instrumentation and Controls, and EMT, and its adult education classes there are free. See our Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College page for its programs.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Construction, Welding and Manufacturing (high school)
- Construction and Carpentry
- Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Welding
- Metal Fabrication
- Instrumentation
- Ingalls Maritime Academy (seniors)
Transportation (high school)
- Diesel Service Technician
- Unmanned Aerial Systems
Health Science (high school)
- Health Sciences
- Sports Medicine
Culinary (high school)
- Culinary Arts
Engineering and Drafting (high school)
- Architecture and Drafting
- PLTW Engineering
Computer and Information Technology (high school)
- PLTW Computer Science
Business (high school)
- Business, Marketing, and Finance
Criminal Justice and Law (high school)
- Law and Public Safety
Education and Work-Based Learning (high school)
- Educator Prep
- Work-based learning
Adult shipyard trades (Hired UP, district workforce initiative; crafts named since 2019, current offering not published)
- Welding
- Structural Fitting
- Sheetmetal/Joiner
- Pipefitting
Campus Locations
Pascagoula, MS 2602 Market Street, Pascagoula, MS 39567