Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville is just about bursting at the seams.Technical Colleges
The parking lot’s so full, cars park on the lawn. Most teachers work overtime, and the school has added some part-time and limited-term faculty to teach extra sections. Classes that once held 12 or 15 students have swelled to 25 or 30.
Blackhawk is the most extreme example of a surge of midcareer adults and displaced workers returning to school for retraining during an economic downturn. Full-time enrollment at Blackhawk is up an estimated 20.7% this fall, in part because of downsizing at General Motors Corp. and in the auto industry.
Statewide, enrollment projections for the Wisconsin Technical College System are up 3.2% – even more than expected.