NHTI, Concord's Community College


NHTI, Concord's Community College is a public residential community college in Concord, New Hampshire. It is part of the Community College System of New Hampshire and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The college, which opened in 1965, was known as New Hampshire Technical Institute until 2007, when its current name was adopted to reflect its growth as a community college with broad offerings in both technical and general education.

History

The college's roots and its former name comes from post-World War II veterans' training programs in Manchester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. However, neither of these institutions were accredited colleges.
The college was created by legislation passed in the New Hampshire General Court in 1961. The legislation followed several years of investigation and exploration by a special committee. The group took special guidance from the two-year college system then operating in North Carolina. Two-year colleges were an innovation in New Hampshire. The legislation created six colleges and led to an active search for campus sites in Concord, Nashua, Manchester, Portsmouth, Claremont, Laconia and Berlin. Only the Concord college retained the NHTI designation; the six others were named New Hampshire Vocational Technical College at .

Academics

NHTI offers 31 associate degree programs, two professional certificate programs, one diploma degree program, and 32 certificate programs of study. Majors range from business to engineering to criminal justice, and also include a wide range of healthcare options, such as nursing, dental hygiene, radiology, and paramedic training.
Under an agreement with the University of New Hampshire, NHTI engineering technology students can participate in a dual-admissions program that allows them, upon completion of an associate degree, to transfer those credits and continue their studies at UNH or other USNH institutions to earn a bachelor's degree.
The college has an open admission policy, accepting any applicant with a high school diploma, and students may enroll at any time before the school year begins.
NHTI has added a robotics and automation engineering technology program under the support of a $19.97 million federal grant in 2013. The first class of students are due to graduate in May 2015. This program focuses on the usage of industrial robots in various industries, as well as the use of PLC units in mass production. This program also includes a course on lean manufacturing, one of the most advanced and efficient ways of manufacturing, invented by Taiichi Ohno.
Some of the students who graduate from NHTI choose to transfer to another four-year institution to continue their education. NHTI offers a variety of transfer agreements with various universities that accept most to all of the credits earned at NHTI.
NHTI offers "Running-Start" credits for high schools around New Hampshire. Specific classes taken at the high school level can be accredited towards an associate degree.

Campus

NHTI's main campus in Concord covers, includes three residence halls, and is also home to the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Academy, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, and the offices for the Community College System of New Hampshire. Approximately 10% of all students live on campus.