Continuing Education

AC helps the Amarillo community one class at a time.

By SHAYLYN RALSTON
Ranger Reporter

Continuing Education at Amarillo College offers the community a variety of classes to help them in the business world and learning everyday activities.

“Continuing Education from Amarillo College perspective, exists for a couple things,” said Leslie Shelton, Workforce Training Coordinator- Non-Technical Training.

To view all classes offered in Continuing Education, visit actx.edu/ce. On the website there are links to follow that give information on financial aid and how to enroll in classes.

“So, the great thing about CE is we have this kind of flexibility, and you just go online to enroll,” said M.J. Coats, Continuing Education Consultant-Workforce Development.

Financial aid, called TPEG, offers about $800 if the class is 24 contact hours or more. The only exception is for massage therapy. Financial aid offers more for the massage therapy class because the cost is higher than most others. Coats said she recommends going to the Washington Street campus for financial aid.

“The good thing about TPEG is it’s not a loan, it’s a grant. You don’t have to pay it back,” said Coats.

Some businesses, such as Tyson and Pantex, use Amarillo College’s Continuing Education program for their new employee orientation and job training.

“We also do personal enrichment; we’ve got a lot of classes in this building here that are like western dance, line dance, Zumba, and those kinds of things. Also, oil painting, drawing, pottery, and crochet,” said Shelton.

Online classes are also offered for people to work at their own pace.

“I am currently working on building some of our own online courses, and some phone app courses people can buy,” said Megan Eikner, Associate Director of Continuing Education.

The classes at Continuing Education aren’t on a set school year schedule so they may easily fit into everyday life and not consume a lot of time.

“The wonderful thing about CE is that it’s not strictly from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester. We have a lot of classes that start in the middle of the semester, some of the classes are a week long, some are 4 weeks long, and some are 6 weeks long,”said Coats.

Continuing Education has classes for almost all ages, including kids, and anyone can join in on the activities offered.

“Other types of classes we offer include open enrollment, and that’s classes open to the public that anyone can enroll in. That’s Kids College, dance, and gymnastics for kids,” said Shelton.

The Continuing Education building is located on Polk Street downtown, but classes are available at almost any Amarillo College Campus, including Hereford and Dumas.