The Madison Area Technical College Weather and Climate Sciences Certificate

In Fall 2024, Madison Area Technical College, a 2-year technical college (2YC), has established a Weather and Climate Sciences Certificate. This certificate, a part of the associates of science degree, includes a series of core introductory meteorology courses (e.g. Weather and Climate, Climate and Climate Change, etc.). It also offers students the opportunity to explore an additional course from a selection list (e.g. Natural Hazards, Aviation Meteorology, etc.). As an alternative to that selection list, students may also take a course in Honors Meteorology and/or an Independent Study in Meteorology to round out their certificate requirements. The minimum credit for the Weather and Climate certificate is 10 credits. While this certificate is internally issued by the college, it intends to jump-start students’ academic path into the atmospheric sciences. It enables students to explore weather and climate subject matter and discover the elements that are a part of the field. Despite some minor limits with certificates and the specific courses as applied in transfer or other atmospheric science programs, vehicles such as this are essential on-ramps and critical pathways into weather and climate sciences from the 2YC environment as students build a starting platform to launch a full academic career into atmospheric sciences.