Midlands Technical College (MTC) has been awarded $408,000 by the US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to expand broadband access to its students, upgrade academic technology, and increase broadband use among the extended MTC community.

The funds will be used to purchase equipment for ten computing centers on the Airport, Beltline, Batesburg–Leesville, and Harbison campuses, and for the Fairfield County Quick Jobs Training Center now under construction.

MTC will also use the grant funding to produce an outreach workshop series covering topics including the variety of broadband devices available on campus, Internet search basics, reliability of information, financial literacy, career development, and others.

“Midlands Technical College continually seeks ways to make education accessible and affordable for its students,” said Dr. Marshall (Sonny) White Jr., MTC president. “This federal funding for expanded broadband access will provide MTC with a unique opportunity to influence and educate a large portion of the current and future workforce.”

Over the past year, the MTC Beltline and Airport Campus Academic Success Centers served more than 16,500 unduplicated users.