San Marcos to get schooled on auto tech

Jun 1, 2009

Austin American-Statesman

SAN MARCOS — Austin Community College's newest program is setting up shop this summer in San Marcos.

The program will offer associate degrees and certificates in automotive technology to adults and high school students. The first class of the one- to two-year program meets today, and classes for San Marcos High School students begin in the fall.

The move is one step in an ongoing push to bring more ACC programs to San Marcos. The San Marcos City Council hopes to bring the area into the college's taxing district and has made that one of its top priorities this year.

Because San Marcos is not part of the taxing district — the last petition effort ended in 2006 with allegations of forgery — students in the evening program will have to pay out-of-district tuition, $142 a credit hour, which is almost three times more than what in-district students pay.

Luanne Preston, ACC's executive director of school relations, said enrollment in Round Rock increased by 50 percent when that area became part of the college's taxing district after having offered classes out of district.

"It's a huge incentive for students," she said.

San Marcos High students can take the automotive and other ACC course offerings for free under a partnership between the school district and the college.

"It's like having a scholarship for our students," said Cecily Moore, the advanced academics coordinator for the 7,300-student San Marcos school district.

Moore estimates that 25 to 30 high school students will take the classes next school year, including students who want to work in the automotive industry and those who want to learn how to fix their own cars.

San Marcos High lost its automotive technology program a few years ago because of space constraints, Moore said.

The college's program will be held at the San Marcos Goodnight Center, where the college's academic classes are held.

"This is our first opportunity to provide work force-oriented programs in the San Marcos community," said Mary Hensley, ACC's executive vice president of college operations. She said officials are still discussing what other work-related courses to offer in the area.

Henry King, the owner of Hulk Automotive in Round Rock, said he went through the ACC program three years after he started his business because he realized he needed to know more.

"I would be able to remove a part and put it back on, but I didn't know why I was doing that," said King, who graduated from the program in 2003. "Going to school really changed that because I was able to understand the fundamentals of why the problem occurred and develop diagnostic skills that were able to take me to the next level."


For more information

San Marcos High School students interested in the ACC automotive technology program should contact Cecily Moore at 512-393-6337 or cecily.moore@smcisd.net. Adults interested in the program should call the ACC San Marcos Center at 512-353-2019 or the Goodnight Center at 512-353-2019.