Milwaukee Area Technical College is a public two-year vocational-technical college based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MATC offers day, evening, and weekend classes at campuses in downtown Milwaukee, Oak Creek, West Allis, and Mequon. Enrollment is about 35,000. MATC offers over a dozen accredited associate degrees, as well as well over a hundred vocational licenses, job training certificates, and adult enrichment courses. MATC also runs GED and HSED classes at local community-based organizations and offers high school diplomas through its Adult High School program. One of MATC's educational outreach programs is the operation of two PBS stations serving southeastern Wisconsin. The stations, WMVS channel 10 and WMVTchannel 36, are known collectively as Milwaukee PBS. In 1992, in partnership with Zenith Corp. and AT&T, Channel 10 produced the nation’s first test broadcast of a digital television signal. In March 2000, the station became the first in Wisconsin to begin regular broadcast of digital, high-definition programs. MATC entered the wireless digital era in 2003, becoming the first college in Wisconsin to provide wireless Internet service throughout all campuses. Milwaukee Area Technical College traces its roots to a 1911 Wisconsin law whose purpose was to encourage young adults who dropped out of high school to work full-time to continue their education part-time. Employers were required to allow workers to attend and students could participate in the evenings. In 1912, the Milwaukee Continuation School opened near Mason Street and the Milwaukee River. Its name was changed to the Milwaukee Vocational School in 1916 as trade skills were emphasized. Enrollment grew quickly, and in 1920-28, a new six-story building was completed at 6th & State Street–the core of what is now the Downtown campus. An influx of adult students led to a new name in 1948, Milwaukee Vocational and Adult School. With a growth in technical courses, the name became Milwaukee Vocational, Adult and Technical School in 1964. In 1968, it merged with the Milwaukee Institute of Technology to become Milwaukee Technical College. The following year, it merged with the other vocational schools in the metropolitan area to form Milwaukee Area Technical College, which became a member of the statewide Vocational, Technical and Adult Education System.
