BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Louisiana Community and Technical College System is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of its creation.

Voters in October 1998 approved a constitutional amendment forming the statewide network of community and technical colleges, a proposal pushed by then-Gov. Mike Foster.

The system was aimed at bolstering educational opportunities and increasing workforce training capacity. It has grown to 12 open-access, two-year colleges around Louisiana.

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System says it has awarded more than 327,000 credentials to students since its creation.

The system recently commemorated the 20-year benchmark at its annual conference in New Orleans.