Midlands Technical College

Midlands Technical College

File:Midlands Technical College Logo 2014.jpg
Type	Public, two-year
Endowment	$5.6 million
President	Ronald L. Rhames
Address	P.O. Box 2408 Columbia, SC 29202 , Columbia , SC , USA
Colors	Blue and Gold
Website	http://www.midlandstech.edu

Midlands Technical College, is a comprehensive, multi-campus, public, two-year college serving the primary region of Richland, Lexington and Fairfield counties of South Carolina.

One of South Carolina’s largest two-year colleges, Midlands Technical College enrolls approximately 16,000 students seeking to develop career skills or transfer to a four-year institution.

Midlands Technical College offers approximately one hundred associate degrees, diplomas and certificate programs of study and an estimated 70 percent of the courses are in the career program area. A strong college transfer program has evolved to allow students the opportunity to take the first two years of a baccalaureate degree and transfer to one of the state’s four-year institutions. Midlands Technical College is currently the largest source of transfer students to the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

The college currently provides a variety of educational opportunities that support its mission of human resource development in support of economic growth in its service region. The Continuing Education Division provides continuing education opportunities to more than 30,000 individuals annually and is one of the largest providers of noncredit professional upgrade training of any two-year college in the state. Midlands Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Campuses

Midlands Technical College has six campuses:

• Airport Campus, located at 1260 Lexington Dr., West Columbia, SC, which is spread out on 65 acres (26.3 ha), consists of 15 buildings, including library facilities and an Academic Success Center.
• Beltline Campus, located at 316 South Beltline Bvld. Columbia, SC, known for being within minutes of downtown Columbia with its urban vibe, consists of 12 buildings, library facilities, and an Academic Success Center. It is currently the only campus where both industrial and engineering technology classes are offered.
• Fairfield Campus, located at 1674 Hwy 321 North Business, Winnsboro, SC, is staffed by local people who know the area.
• Harbison Campus, located at 7300 College St., Irmo, SC has seven buildings.
• Northeast Campus is the site of MTC's Enterprise Campus and the MTC Center of Excellence for Technology. The campus consists of 100 acres (40.5 ha) developable adjacent to the MTC Center of Excellence for Technology, and offers proximity to the Carolina Research Park, major Interstates and shared technology-specific spaces.
• Batesburg-Leesville Campus, is the newest campus and opened in the fall of 2007.
• In addition, a center is located at Fort Jackson, on the Fort Jackson base, which offers classes primarily for military service personnel.

History

In 1947, the South Carolina Area Trade Schools (SCATS) Act established the South Carolina Area Trade SchoolColumbia Campus to provide skilled and educated workers to meet the expanding labor needs of the community. In 1969, the name was changed to Columbia Technical Education Center (TEC) and it became part of the State Committee for Technical Education, which was responsible for guiding the technical programs in the state. The site of the Columbia Technical Education Center is now the Airport Campus of Midlands Technical College.

Richland Technical Education Center (Richland TEC) was established in 1963 to address the need for specialized training for industrial growth, and the first students were enrolled in the fall of 1963. By 1969, the school's enrollment expanded to 1,200 students and Lexington County officials joined forces with Richland County to form the Richland-Lexington Counties Commission for Technical Education. With this partnership, the name of the school was changed to Midlands Technical Education Center (TEC).

Approximately 15,500 students were enrolled in Midlands Technical Education Center between the years 1969-1974. Major programs of study were offered in engineering technologies, business and allied health. The site of the Midlands Technical Education Center is now the Beltline Campus of Midlands Technical College.

Palmer College in Columbia, a private business college, joined with the State Tech Board in 1973. At that time, Palmer College annually enrolled 1,000 students in 16 associate degree and diploma programs. On March 21, 1973, the Columbia Technical Education Center, Midlands Technical Education Center and Palmer College in Columbia merged to form a single, multi-campus college. This new college operated as three separate entities governed by one local commission through June 1974. On July 1 of that year, the three separate institutions merged to form Midlands Technical College under the guidance of the Richland-Lexington Counties Commission for Technical Education.