Normandale Community College will offer courses at Shakopee High School and at Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie when the spring semester starts on Jan. 14.

Currently operating at capacity, Normandale's classrooms are in use almost every hour of every weekday and Monday through Thursday evenings. This high demand for enrollment and the new arrangement with SHS and HTC will enable Normandale to offer more educational opportunities for students and to fulfill a strong interest in providing courses to the very fast-growing communities to the west and south of the college's Bloomington campus.

"For more than a year, a committee looked at what was available out there," said Normandale dean of students Ralph Anderson. "Shakopee Senior High is a brand new, gorgeous facility, built for the future, with space available for evening classes. And we already have a long-standing partnership with Hennepin Technical College. Both are delighted with this new arrangement."

Anderson said the initial plan was to start classes in fall 2008, but it was possible to begin in January at both locations. SHS will offer five classes for approximately 160 students on Monday and Wednesday evenings; HTC will offer three classes for approximately 100 students on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Courses at both locations will include typical first- and second-year transfer requirements, such as psychology, history, political science and communications.

Tuition will be the same at satellite sites as it is at Normandale and the college will rent space from each school.

Joe Opatz, Normandale's president, predicts that developing off-campus classes for the high-growth, high-demand communities closest to Normandale – including Chaska, Shakopee, Eden Prairie, Burnsville and Prior Lake – is part of the permanent master plan for the college's future.

For more information and a schedule of the new off-campus course offerings, check the Normandale Web site at www.normandale.edu or call the Admissions Office at (952) 487-8201.