The Institution was established by the Kansas State Board of Education in 1965 as a result of state and federal legislation passed in 1963. It was named Northeast Kansas Area Vocational-Technical School. Through the years, however, the name evolved to simply, Northeast Kansas Technical School. The campus, located at 1501 West Riley in Atchison, KS, opened to the northeast Kansas community in August of 1967. Currently, 16 technical programs are offered on this campus, 9 of which are Associate Degree curriculums.
In 1999, Northeast Kansas Area Technical School applied for technical college status and was approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. During the 2000 Legislative Session, Governor Bill Graves signed into law Kansas House Bill 2622, which designated the school as the Northeast Kansas Technical College.
The College exists to provide education to meet the
technical needs for any person, 16 years of age or older, from any community
in the area. Students in high school; students in post-secondary schools;
persons who have completed or discontinued their formal education and
are preparing to enter a labor market; persons who have already entered
the labor market, but need to upgrade their skills; and persons disadvantaged
or handicapped will have ready access to technical education.
