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Night moves: BTC expands off-hours offerings

ROCK TOWNSHIP — More night classes this fall at Blackhawk Technical College will boost local workers' opportunities, officials said.

BTC has offered night classes for a long time, but the increase will allow students to complete associate degrees entirely during the evening, officials said.

Programs affected are accounting, business management, early childhood education and human resources.

The curriculum will be identical to daytime classwork, so students can easily move from day to night classes, or visa versa.

Also available on a night-class-only basis are one-year certificate programs in IT networking and office administrative support.

"This creates a whole new product line for folks who are interested in a career change" or who had to interrupt their educations because of family or work, said Don Smith, dean of business and information technology.

Smith said the new offerings are not a response to limited classroom space.

"The movement is really about trying to accommodate folks who are working adults and expanding academic opportunities for folks who are working and have jobs they want to hold onto while still trying to make significant changes in their lives with a new career," Smith said.

BTC officials pointed out that state technical school costs, at about $3,200 a year plus fees, are significantly less than that of the University of Wisconsin System.

The two-year cost for tuition and fees in the four nighttime associate-degree programs ranges between $7,700 and $8,500.

UW-Rock County's annual tuition is $4,750, while the average annual in-state tuition at four-year UW universities is $6,939.

Officials point out that BTC instructors were practitioners in their fields before turning to teaching. They also tout their human resources program, which produced a winner in a state contest this year in which 20 tech college and UW programs competed.