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thePeorian.com
W
hat started as a weld-
ing school Lincoln, Ill.,
in 1995, by a couple
of welders naturally, Midwest
Technical Institute has grown in
size and in the program it offers
in vocational training.
The school, now based in
Sprinfield, opened a campus in
East Peoria in 2009. MTI has one
basic goal: To provide its stu-
dents with hands-on, workforce
training they need to land a job
right away.
The programs are intense be-
cause they are compacted into a
short period of time, usually nine
weeks, but graduates of the vari-
ous programs usually are able
to find work right away for one
basic reason, said Lisa McGehee,
CEO of the East Peoria branch of
MTI. “These are the areas where
they need skilled workers and the
employers know the students at
MTI received hands-on training
and can start right away,” she
said.
“
From the start we have tried
to put in place programs that we
know the employers in this area
need. Because of that, in many
cases our students have jobs lined
up before they ever graduate,
particularly in those programs
where we have externships,” she
said.
MTI has placed welders at the
area’s largest employers, includ-
ing Caterpillar Inc., but doesn’t
focus on just one or two employ-
ers, she said. It does, however,
have contracts throughout the
region with employers through
which the students can do ex-
ternships or practicum training,
including OSF Health Care sys-
tems, Methodist Medical Center,
Illinois Cancer Care and several
optometry offices.
“
We want to be versatile. And
we are providing opportunities
to people who otherwise may not
get such opportunities. Now, we
don’t guarantee you’ll get a job
when you leave here but we do
our best to place our graduates in
positions when they leave here.
We believe we have a good track
record,” McGehee said.
One thing about MTI that
many may not realize is that it is
a for-profit company. The tuition
and fees students pay is how
the school is funded, including
instructors’ salaries, because MTI
receives no state or federal finan-
cial assistance.
However, the students them-
selves may qualify for financial
aid, McGehee said. Whereas the
typical tuition for a nine-week
program is about $14,000, the
typical amount a student who
qualifies for assistance will pay
out-of-pocket is about half of
that.
Tuition at MTI includes all
materials needed for the course,
exam costs, access to equipment
and uniforms when needed. “We
try to make it as easy for the stu-
dent as we can. A lot of our stu-
dents are single parents and for
those who already are working
we try to be flexible in the course
schedules to meet their needs.
“
We attract people who want
a job or career change but for
whatever reason cannot afford
to take two years out of their life
to attend a community college.
We give people who can’t do that
an opportunity and maybe open
some doors for them that hadn’t
been opened before McGehee
Said.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
MTI:
Hands-on learning takes
graduates a long way
by Paul Gordon
The Present
