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Only a year after opening its third Kansas location, Wichita Technical Institute has plans to open a school in Joplin, Mo.
WTI has two locations in Wichita, which will merge into one by January 2004, and one in Topeka.
WTI has been open for 49 years, but only recently has the school started seeing significant growth in its student base and programs. In the past two years, enrollment in Wichita has gone from 50 students to about 350.
Officials attribute the increase in interest to the sluggish economy, which has many out-of-work people going back to school to improve their skill levels. The Topeka location, which opened last September, has gone from 12 students to 75, says Rod Moore, director of education.
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin recently began phasing out its two-year programs. Barry...