The Power of Knowledge

Here's a sampling of institutions that offer a variety of printing-related courses tailored to meet the needs of printing professionals:

Print University
Alexandria, Va.
PSDA's Print University offers high-quality, online and hands-on education and training for business printing professionals. The programs, the majority of which are available online, use multimedia combined with the expertise of industry experts and professional speakers. The Business Printing Curriculum, a certificate program, coincides with the annual Print Solutions Conference and Expo. It offers basics of understanding business document printing and related products, their analysis and design, and ways to sell them. The course catalog includes topics such as forms production and materials, forms construction and specifications, form/label combinations, MICR-encoded documents, document security and more. Print University also offers a sales training clinic—a combination of online and residence programs, a sales manager/sales staff training program, and general selling as well as customer service skills. It offers monthly web seminars on the latest technical printing innovations.

Murray State University—Department of Graphic Communications Technology
Murray, Ky.
The department offers a 2-year associate of science degree in graphic communications technology, a 4-year bachelor's of science in graphic communications management, a master's of science in printing management option under industrial education and technology, and industry and technology minors in graphic communications technology and photography.

Cal Poly's Graphic Communication Department
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The department has one of the largest industry support programs in graphic arts education and the industry has donated the vast majority of its equipment and facilities. Founded in 1946, the department maintains an enrollment of approximately 300 students pursuing a bachelor's of science degree in graphic communication with concentrations in printing management, electronic publishing and imaging, and design reproduction technology.

Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, Wis.
Located in the heart of the "Paper Valley," the FVTC Graphic Arts Center of Excellence houses state-of-the-art prepress, lithographic and flexographic printing facilities. It has numerous partnerships with industry and professional associations. It offers courses on corrugated printing, die cutting, desktop publishing, flexographic printing, offset lithographic printing, and more.

Fullerton College—Printing Technology Division
Fullerton, Calif.
The department focuses on skills training, industry retraining, job placement and educational advancement. It's a cooperative effort between students, employers, Graphic Arts Technical Foundation and the Printing Industry Association of Southern California Inc. Students receive sophisticated training in electronic prepress, conventional film assembly, offset duplicator operation, advanced sheetfed offset presswork, flexography and screen printing.

The Department of Printing at West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Montgomery, W.Va.
The institute has been offering printing technology classes since the 1920s. It offers two degrees: a 2-year associate's degree in printing technology and a 4-year bachelor's degree in printing management. Students join the 2-year program, after which they may choose to continue the bachelor's degree.