Vaccine Clinic Appointments—IMPORTANT! BTC is not responsible for scheduling any vaccine appointments. All inquiries and appointments must be made through the Whatcom County Health department. Below are the contacts to make appointments:
The rapid expansion of the computer industry has generated a growing need for highly skilled workers to repair, network, and support these complex computer systems. Employment of computer networking engineers is expected to increase much faster than average as information technology becomes more sophisticated and organizations continue to adopt and integrate these technologies. The computer networking field requires specialists who continually learn new skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing IT industry.
BTC’s degrees and certificates in the Information Technology Program are ideal for students with skillsets and interests in information technology, working with and troubleshooting computers, assisting the public, customer service, and more. Your Information Technology career training will help you learn in-demand skills for a rewarding career in the fast-paced world of modern business.
Choose BTC’s Information Technology programs to train for positions such as network technician, network specialist, network administrator, and network security administrator, or local area network (LAN) technician. Through our top career training, you will learn how to manage computer networks, troubleshoot and repair computer systems, and design, install, and maintain LANs.
BTC’s top-quality computer networking training is widely respected by businesses and information technology (IT) professionals. The average annual wage in the computer networking field is $87,485, with an earning potential of about $111,446 per year.
Information Technology Program graduates will find employment opportunities with IT and computer support firms or with a wide range of companies that use computer networks, including software companies, manufacturers, industrial firms, retail and wholesale companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, schools and universities, corporations, and federal, state, and local government agencies.
Bellingham Technical College is a Microsoft IT Academy member and is a member of CompTIA.
71% BTC graduate placement rate
$68,307 starting annual wageStudents may begin this program in Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer quarter.
Admissions application and assessment testing in Reading, Math and Writing is required. Your score on the test and/or your previous transcripts will determine where you begin your course sequence. Contact Admissions at 360.752.8345 or at admissions@btc.edu for assistance with academic planning.
IT 105 | Using Network Computer Systems | 3 CR |
IT 141 | A+ Operating Systems | 5 CR |
IT 112 | A+ Hardware | 5 CR |
General Education | 5 CR |
IT 106 | IT Support Skills | 3 CR |
IT 120 | Command Line Interface & Scripting | 5 CR |
IT 160 | Network Technology I | 5 CR |
General Education | 5 CR |
IT 107 | Using Cloud Services | 3 CR |
IT 161 | Network Technology II | 5 CR |
IT 142 | Windows Desktop I | 5 CR |
General Education | 5 CR |
IT 242 | Windows Server I | 5 CR |
IT 240 | Linux Server Administration | 5 CR |
Specialty/Elective | 5 CR |
IT 210 | Information Security | 5 CR |
IT 250 | Cloud & IOT Fundamentals | 5 CR |
Specialty/Elective | 5 CR |
IT 270 | Field-Based Experience | 5 CR |
Specialty/Elective | 5 CR |
Specialty/Elective | 5 CR |
AENGL 100 | Applied English | 5 CR |
OR |
BUS 171 | Technical Communications | 5 CR |
OR |
ENGL& 101 | English Composition I | 5 CR |
OR |
ENGL& 102 | English Composition II | 5 CR |
AMATH 100 | Applied Occupational Math | 5 CR |
OR |
BUS 150 | Math for Business | 5 CR |
OR |
MATH 107 | Math In Society | 5 CR |
OR higher |
CMST& 210 | Interpersonal Communications | 5 CR |
OR |
PSYC& 100 | General Psychology | 5 CR |
OR |
SOC& 101 | Introduction to Sociology | 5 CR |
CHOOSE ONE OF FIVE TRACKS: CLOUD COMPUTING, NETWORK MANAGEMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, OR GENERALIST | 15 CR |
Cloud Computing: |
IT 252 | Amazon Cloud | 5 CR |
IT 253 | Microsoft Cloud | 5 CR |
IT 254 | Web Applications | 5 CR |
Network Management: |
IT 241 | Windows Desktop II | 5 CR |
IT 243 | Windows Server II | 5 CR |
IT 260 | Network Technology III | 5 CR |
Computer Programming: |
IT 121 | Introduction to Programming | 5 CR |
CS& 131 | Computer Science I C++ | 5 CR |
CS 132 | Computer Science II C++ | 5 CR |
Health Information Technology: |
HT 180 | Healthcare & Technology | 5 CR |
HT 190 | Health Information Management Systems | 5 CR |
HT 200 | Health Technology Professional | 5 CR |
Generalist: |
Students may select any three classes from the Cloud Computing, Network Management, Programming or Health Information Technology tracks to complete the Generalist track. |
CLASSES TAKEN AS PART OF A SPECIALTY TRACK MAY NOT BE COUNTED TOWARDS THE ELECTIVE REQUIREMENT. | 5 CR |
IT 252 | Amazon Cloud | 5 CR |
IT 253 | Microsoft Cloud | 5 CR |
IT 254 | Web Applications | 5 CR |
IT 241 | Windows Desktop II | 5 CR |
IT 243 | Windows Server II | 5 CR |
IT 260 | Network Technology III | 5 CR |
IT 121 | Introduction to Programming | 5 CR |
CS& 131 | Computer Science I C++ | 5 CR |
CS& 132 | Computer Science II C++ | 5 CR |
HT 180 | Healthcare & Technology | 5 CR |
HT 190 | Health Information Management Systems | 5 CR |
HT 200 | Health Technology Professional | 5 CR |
CAP 138 | MS Word | 5 CR |
CAP 142 | MS Excel | 5 CR |
CAP 143 | Adobe Acrobat & Electronic File Management | 5 CR |
CAP 146 | MS Access | 5 CR |
CAP 148 | MS PowerPoint | 3 CR |
CAP 200 | Integrated Computer Applications | 5 CR |
CIS 160 | Computer User Support I | 5 CR |
MGMT 154 | Creating and Managing a Small Business | 5 CR |
PMP 100 | Project Management Fundamentals | 1 CR |
PMP 120 | Project Management Prep | 3 CR |
PMP 130 | PMP Integration | 1 CR |
After successfully completing this program, students will be able to:
The rapid expansion of the computer industry has generated a growing need for highly skilled workers to repair, network, and support these complex computer systems. Employment of computer network engineers is expected to increase much faster than average as technology becomes more sophisticated and organizations continue to adopt and integrate these technologies. This field requires networking specialists to continually learn new skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing industry.
The average annual income in this field is $87,485, with an earning potential of about $111,446 per year.*
Employment opportunities are available in medium to large businesses with computer networks, such as banks and other financial institutions, schools and universities, insurance companies, federal and state government, and other corporations. As smaller companies move to a client-server model, more opportunities for network specialists will soon become available. Potential positions include network technician, network specialist, network administrator, network security administrator, and LAN technician.
Mike Massey graduated from Western Washington University, in 1985, with a combined Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Business Administration, and a minor in History. For the next 15 years he worked as a computer programmer (Dealer Information Systems), and as a database programmer, network administrator and IT Manager at Western Washington University (WWU). During that time he also obtained his commercial pilot license and float plane rating from Trinity Western University. Mike has been teaching Computer Networking at Bellingham Technical College since 2000. He is currently pursuing a degree in Biology at WWU.