ITT Tech settles into Springfield campus

An inaugural computer class at the new ITT Technical Institute campus in south Springfield is more than halfway through its first quarter, and school administrators have invited the public to a Jan. 24 open house.

Carmel, Ind.-based ITT Educational Services received accreditation for the proprietary for-profit school from the Missouri Department of Higher Education in November, following a seven-month review process. The campus is at 3216 S. National Ave. in Kelly Plaza, a commercial shopping center on South National Avenue just south of Montclair Street.

Campus Director Schon Nielsen said the school's first computer networking systems class began in December, but he declined to say how many students had enrolled.

"Our main demographic is the working adult," Nielsen said. "We have a high school market that we go after, and we have people coming back in their 50s and 60s, looking to make a career change."

Enrollment is under way for criminal justice and computer drafting and design classes - primarily in the evenings - that will begin March 9, Nielsen said. Each of the two-year programs are broken into eight quarterly classes, and the current tuition rate is $468 per credit hour, said Nielsen, who was previously director of recruitment at the ITT campus in Omaha, Neb.

Nielsen said ITT takes several factors into consideration when deciding what classes to offer in its new markets.

"They go with what they feel like is going to be the most successful options for a graduate initially," he said. "Does the market they're going into have viable (career) options? ... That's the biggest thing."

Nielsen said ITT believes that students who earn computer and criminal justice associate's degrees through its programs will fare well in the marketplace.

Everest College President Gary Myers said the 32-year-old school has offered computer classes for almost the entire time it's been in Springfield, but Everest - one of more than 100 schools owned by California-based Corinthian Colleges Inc. - doesn't offer a criminal justice degree.

"For us, in this marketplace, it doesn't seem to me to be viable," he said, noting that the average class size at Everest is 13 to 16 students paying tuition of $291 per credit hour. "All programs go through waves of popularity. And when they become popular, most schools try to get on the bandwagon."

In Springfield, Myers said, there seems to be an abundance of higher-education opportunities in the fields of health care, computer science and business, but Nielsen said ITT is accustomed to the competition.

"It's like that in all of our markets," he said. "We feel like we're a good alternative for somebody who needs this kind of an education. We're not here to say we're better than anybody else. We feel like we have a model that works for our graduates."

Working in ITT's favor on that front is the background of Dean Cameron Arthur, who was most recently the criminal justice chair at ITT's Omaha campus.

Nielsen said most of the school's staff is in place - now at 14 employees - and he's still seeking a recruitment director. As the student body grows, he expects to add classes, which will mean hiring more instructors and department chairs.

For now, though, Nielsen wants to showcase the school's existing programs. ITT has scheduled an open house Jan. 24 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

"It's open to anybody who wants to come in and check us out," Nielsen said.

ITT is leasing about 21,000 square feet in Kelly Plaza, and Nielsen said the school is occupying about half of that.