(HUTTO, Texas) – For some students in the Precision Machining Technology program at Texas State Technical College’s East Williamson County campus, night classes are proving to be custom-made for them.
John Wythe is one of two Precision Machining Technology instructors for the newly offered evening courses this semester. He said the group is excelling so far.
“The night classes are nice because it’s quieter,” Wythe said. “We’re moving at their pace because it’s a small group. They’re already more than halfway through the Precision Tools and Measurement course and it’s only the end of the second week.”
Carly Lopez was excited to start her education with night courses.
“I’m not a morning person,” Lopez said. “These classes are working great for me because I get to sleep in and I do better in my classes.”
Samuel Abera joined the classes during the second week.
“This is my first time taking night classes, and I like it so far,” Abera said. “I’m new to machining. I was majoring in cybersecurity somewhere else, but I found TSTC, saw the machine shop, and I wanted to try this. I’m working on catching up.”
Wythe said the night courses benefit the students in several ways.
“The night hours give students more options for lab time if they need it,” Wythe said. “Someone is here with the night classes four times a week. We’ve already seen some of the advanced-courses students taking advantage of the extended hours to work through troubleshooting.”
In Texas, computer numerical control (CNC) tool programmers earn an average annual salary of $62,160, according to onetonline.org, which forecast the number of such positions to grow 47% in the state from 2020 to 2030.
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree and a certificate of completion in Precision Machining Technology, as well as a certificate of completion in CNC Machine Operator, at its East Williamson County, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, Marshall, North Texas and Waco campuses.
Precision Machining Technology is one of nine programs at TSTC that have money-back guarantees. For more information, visit tstc.edu/mbg.
To learn more about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
