Antonelli College was founded in 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio as an art school. Today, the college offers a variety of vocational and technical programs at its four campuses and online. The campus at Jackson offers vocational certificates and associate degrees in programs including interior design and graphic design, medical or dental assisting, information technology and hospitality arts.
Virginia College is a private school, maintaining 18 campuses in nine states across the South. The Jackson campus was the third in the chain, opening in 2000. Allied health programs constitute almost half of the school's offerings, including medical assisting, pharmacy technician and surgical technician programs. Non-health programs at this campus include network engineering, office administration and Cisco Network Associate certification. Individual programs award either a vocational certificate or an associate degree.
Hinds Community College is the largest in the state of Mississippi, with an enrollment of 19,000 in the 2010/2011 academic year. Jackson has two main campuses, the Academic/Technical Center and the Nursing/Allied Health Center, and four satellite campuses provide learning opportunities in the surrounding counties. Academic credits may be transferred from Hinds to several of the region's universities. Allied health, career and technical programs award vocational certificates and associate degrees in disciplines including nursing, aviation, culinary arts and respiratory care technology. A limited number of the technical programs also offer credits that may be transferred to a university.
The ITT Technical Institute is a large chain of schools, with more than 125 campuses across the country. Their location in Jackson's suburb of Madison, 13 miles away, administers departments of drafting and design, information technology, electronics technology and criminal justice. Bachelor's and associate degrees are awarded in programs including construction management, paralegal studies, software development and information systems security.