GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As the new school year begins, Fox Valley Technical College has a new expansion to their dental program labs.
12 simulators with mannequins are part of the $2.1 million expansion to the department.
“So students can actually work on teeth, work on different assessments, different treatments, do some practice,” said Dental Hygiene Program Director Robin Eichhorst. “It actually has water, air, all of that.”
Eichhorst said the expansion was spurred by a workforce shortage of dental professionals.
“One of the things we really looked at doing, because we do have a really good dental hygiene program, we do have a good dental assisting program,” she said. “We were looking at what the students were really interested in, and they are interested in the dental hygiene program.”
The expansion allows for six more training areas, which FVTC said will benefit students in the Dental Hygienist, Dental Assistant and new Expanded Functional Dentistry Auxiliary programs.
That adds space that was sorely needed for the number of students looking to study in the field, according to Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Lanter.
“Our dental hygienist program is full for fall, and that is a pretty significant trend,” said Lanter. “So when we were able to increase seats, that was able to help pull us from a list of individuals who have expressed interest and are working on general education courses.”
In addition to the expansion, FVTC is trending towards an increase in enrollment for the fall 2025 semester across all offerings, including transfer programs like the Associate of Arts.
“That’s had about a 32% increase. Our associate of science degree, which is exactly what it says, moves more towards science-focused degrees in STEM education. [That] has seen a 57% increase in students from fall 2024 to now,” Lanter said.
While the college doesn’t have an exact number for the enrollment increase yet, FVTC says they’re still trending past the 3% increase seen last year.
