Lake Area Technical College (Lake Area Tech or LATC, formerly Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI)) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Watertown, South Dakota Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Codington County, South Dakota, United States. Watertown is home to the Redlin Art Center, which houses many of the works of Terry Redlin, one of the nation's most popular wildlife artists. Watertow ...

. The campus covers 40 acres and serves an area of 18,000 square miles. Founded in 1965, Lake Area Tech was the first technical school to be established in South Dakota, followed by schools in Mitchell,

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into northern Lincoln County. The population was 192 ...

and

Rapid City Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

. Lake Area Tech is accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

Campus

Due to the increasing number of students, the school completed a four-phase campus expansion project in 2013. The project included a new Diesel, Energy, and Welding facility, a new Automotive and Health Science Facility, a centralized Student Center, and a new Agriculture facility. To continue to manage the increase in student population, Lake Area Tech completed a flex space 'The Lab' in 2018 and has constructed a new facility on campus that houses all of the healthcare programs. The new Prairie Lakes Healthcare Center of Learning opened Fall 2020. The Ace A. Brandt Diesel Center was opened in Fall 2023, in dedication to Brandt. Brandt was the founder of Brandt Holdings, and died of brain cancer in 2021. The new building includes lab space, classrooms, and a wash bay for diesel equipment. The school is anticipating a 10 year master campus plan aimed for 2035. The independent phased projects include replacing a cold storage unit, creating program hubs, a public safety training center, a construction trades center, and enhancing campus safety & security.

Academics

Lake Area Tech has more than 30 programs of study, including 15

online degree An online degree is an academic degree (usually a college degree, but sometimes the term includes high school diplomas and non-degree certificate programs) that can be earned primarily or entirely through the use of an Internet-connected computer, ...

s, and serves more than 2,600 full-time, part-time, and online students. Some of the school's long-standing programs include Agriculture, Welding, Cosmetology, Diesel, Aviation, and Nursing.

Students

Reputation and rankings

In March 2017, Lake Area Tech was named the winner of the 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, following three previous Finalist-With-Distinction honors in 2011, 2013, and 2015. The prize was awarded by the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

in March 2017.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Buildings and structures in Watertown, South Dakota Education in Codington County, South Dakota Community colleges in South Dakota Two-year colleges in the United States 1965 establishments in South Dakota