New STEM Options at Madison College South Campus


Dr. Jack Daniels recently announced in a press conference that Madison Area Technical College will open a new campus on the south side of Madison in 2019. The college also announced a new partnership with the Madison School district. The plan is to open an expanded campus able to serve as many as 5500 students.

Current Madison College campuses are located, accessible on the north side and downtown. Transportation options are limited. The new campus will be located at the crossing of Badger Road and South Park Street, facing the Metro South Transfer Point. Daniels says the new location is more accessible for South Madison residents, communities of color, and students who travel from elsewhere in the MATC district.

“Madison College’s South Campus Initiative will address, head on, vast racial disparities that exist on the south side,” said Madison College President Jack Daniels.

Funding for the new South Campus will come from the American Family Insurance Dream Foundation with $1.3 million and from the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Foundation with $10 million.

MATC will partner with the Madison Metropolitan School District at the new site. The plan will create programs to help high school juniors and seniors explore STEM coursework in a dual credit program. The purpose of the partnership is to give “female students and students of color, who are currently underrepresented” a chance to introduce themselves to STEM fields, according to Madison Schools Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham.

Students participating in the STEM program will spend 9th and 10th grades at their high school, then transfer to Madison College for grades 11 and 12 to attend college-level classes, receive a high school diploma, and free transferable college credits.

MATC plans to begin the STEM program with 25 students at the MATC Truax Campus in the fall of 2018. The program will eventually grow to 200 students at the new South Campus.

Simpson Street Free Press has continuously been following this project and has always supported it. We are very excited to see the opportunities that will come out of this new project and collaboration.

Click below to view two editorial pieces that followed the development of the South campus.

SSFP Supports the MATC South Campus Plan

Future of South Side Campus Should Determine Madison College’s Downtown Site Decision

[Sources: Wisconsin State Journal ; The Capital Times; Madison College ]

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