Technicum (Russian: те́хникум, tekhnikum , Russian pronunciation: [ˈtʲɛxnʲɪkum]; Ukrainian: те́хнікум) was a Soviet institute of vocational education. A mass-education facility of "special middle education" category 1 step higher than PTU, but aimed to train low-level industrial managers (foremen, technical supervisors etc.) or specializing in occupations that require skills more advanced than purely manual labor, especially in high-tech occupations (such as electronics). This category remained in use in post-Soviet republics.
Thus, the technicum may be regarded as a labor trade-oriented analogue to Western two-year colleges. Therefore, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union many technicums in CIS countries were renamed to colleges.