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Don’t let the name fool you.

It may sound like a small vocational school for local Wyoming residents, but in fact, young men and women from every state in the union attend WyoTech’s sprawling campuses across the country. Started in 1966 in Laramie, WY, WyoTech features automotive schools in Sacramento and Long Beach, CA, an aviation school in Boston, a motorcycle school in Daytona Beach, FL and a diesel school in Blairsville, PA.

Still, Laramie is where it all began, and that is where you’ll find WyoTech President Guy Warpness helping to mentor around 700 diesel technicians a year. A proud alumnus, Warpness is a true believer in a system that has already turned out a couple generations of top technicians. The school is a true success story in an industry that desperately needs one, and touring the extensive shops recently with Warpness, it does not take long to understand his enthusiasm.

GROWING REPUTATION

The Laramie campus offers three six-month core programs—automotive, collision refinishing and diesel—and all students must take an additional three-month specialty course for a total of 1,500 hours to graduate. Warpness says many students take an additional three-month class after their nine-month term to add to their education and make them more employable. Classes fill up with students from around the country—the average student travels around 1,000 miles to attend; a testament to WyoTech’s growing, mainly word-of-mouth reputation.

Diesel program coordinator Chad Enyeart says the advantage of the core program for students and employers alike is that instructors do not get overly industry-specific, so that knowledge can be applied to a wide range of applications.

“It’s not about over-the-road trucks, it’s not about marine diesel or off-road diesel; we just teach the basics, and that applies to any diesel industry,” he says. “That’s where our specialty programs come in (later). We have an advanced diesel course, strictly towards Class-7 and 8 over-the-road trucks.”