After nearly three years of planning, Ohio's higher-education officials are finalizing an ambitious program to grant college credit for some technical courses offered at the state's adult-education centers. The program, called the Career-Technical Credit Transfer, is the latest in a string of state efforts to more closely link work-force training and postsecondary education, which had operated independently. With the program finally getting its legs, faculty members from technical centers and community colleges are evaluating courses that have been submitted as candidates for credit. They are examining courses in five key work-force areas: automotive technology, computer networking, electrical and mechanical engineering technology, medical assisting, and nursing. If all goes as planned, officials say that by midsummer, Ohioans studying those subjects at adult-education centers could receive college credit for certain courses that they could later apply toward a degree. However, not all the courses offered at Ohio's technical centers will be eligible for the new program, nor should they be, says Eric D. Fingerhut, chancellor of Ohio's Board of Regents. He believes students should receive credit for courses that have become almost identical to their credit-bearing counterparts at the state's community colleges.