New NWTC partnership with UW-Platteville creates flexible routes to four-year engineering degrees

GREEN BAY – Students will be able to complete a bachelor of science in electrical, mechanical, or industrial and systems engineering while staying close to home thanks to a new partnership between Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) and UW-Platteville.

Through a series of recently signed articulation agreements, qualified NWTC students now have guaranteed transfer pathways into UW-Platteville’s ABET-accredited engineering programs.

“We’ve found that 80% of our EET (electrical engineering technology) students go back to get that bachelor’s degree at some point, so by having transfer agreements with schools like UW-Platteville, it gives them another option for where they want to go on to get that engineering degree and step up their skill level,” said Kevin Grabian, electrical engineering instructor at NWTC.” We have these with other colleges as well, but we’re always looking to partner with more colleges… The process is pretty straightforward. We have set up our curriculum, so that it aligns with what those partner colleges are looking for, and so there’s no fighting for credits. They take our courses here and ge that associate degree and then they transfer with these agreements to those colleges so they’re ready to finish up their bachelor’s degree.”

But this new partnership with UW-Platteville goes beyond just a transfer agreement — it provides a path for students to complete a bachelor’s degree without having to relocate.

“What’s unique about this transfer agreement is that it’s one of our first ones that has mostly hybrid or online work,” said Grabian. “They might have to go to Platteville every now and then to do some type of hands-on lab work, but there are institutions that Platteville partners with as well so for those labs, they may not even have to travel that far. And they definitely don’t have to move there and be in Platteville every day to go to class. That’s what’s unique about this new transfer agreement.”

With this new partnership, students can continue to live and work in Northeast Wisconsin while working on their bachelor’s degree.

“We’ve got students who get their associate degree here, and there’s great jobs for those students with that associate degree and a lot of them want to stay here and work in those great jobs, but they want to maybe step up and become a full-on engineer and get that bachelor’s degree,” Grabian said. “This allows them to stay here, live here and work here, but still get that degree.”

“This partnership is about meeting students where they are and where they’re headed,” said Dr. Kathryn Rogalski, vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development at NWTC. “It gives our students clear, affordable and flexible routes to continue their education and step into high-demand engineering careers right here in our region.”

It’s not just the students earning their four-year degrees that will benefit from this new partnership, but also the local workforce.

“We have a huge demand for these high-skilled jobs and we just don’t have the graduates to fill those positions,” Grabian said. “We have a retiring workforce in those skilled positions that we are just not keeping up with the replacements. These students are getting out of here with great degrees — that associate degree can make them great money — but this gives them that opportunity to stay working and not have to uproot their whole family and move across the state to get that bachelor’s degree.”

“These agreements create robust, clear and affordable pathways for technical college students who want to earn four-year engineering degrees without starting over,” said Dr. Philip Parker, dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics, and Science atUW-Platteville. “This collaboration is a direct investment in Wisconsin’s future workforce.”

Learn more about NWTC’s transfer opportunities and STEM programs at nwtc.edu/academics-and-training/college-of-stem.