Lake Area Technical Institute

Best Community Colleges:  Lake Area Technical Institute (SD)

Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI), a technical school located in Watertown, South Dakota, is the first technical school established in South Dakota. The campus serves an 18,000 square mile area.

Lake Area Tech has 29 study programs and 11 E-degrees. The junior college serves more than 1,700 full-time, part-time and online students. The school boasts low tuition cost and a 99% graduate placement rate.

A sampling of the school’s programs: Agri-Business, Custom Paint & Fabrication Cosmetology, Robotics, Aviation Maintenance, and Nursing.

Lake Area Technical Institute leads the nation in graduation rates and t helps its graduates secure jobs at strong salaries.

76 percent of first-time, full-time LATI students graduate or transfer to a four-year college within three years; the national average is 40 percent.

LATI graduates recently averaged 40 percent in earnings than other new hires in the area.

Through program-to-program articulation agreements, LATI graduates from a specific program may transfer LATI technical credits to a specific degree plan at South Dakota State University. Selected general education classes and technical credits may be used.

Aspen Institute named Lake Area CC a 2013 Finalist with Distinction in its prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The Aspen Institute also recognized the college as a 2011 Finalist with Distinction for the same prize. The college ranked #11 in the CNN Money listing of community colleges in 2012.