Dakota County Technical College Automotive Technology Program

Dakota County Technical College Automotive Technology Program This is the page for the Automotive Technology program at Dakota County Technical College.

08/23/2026

Classes Begin at 7am tomorrow morning. Are you prepared? We are excited to see all our new students as well as our returning students.

We just acquired a couple more trainers this Summer. We are gearing up for our semester to begin August 24th. We have a ...
07/28/2026

We just acquired a couple more trainers this Summer. We are gearing up for our semester to begin August 24th. We have a brand new A/C system trainer and a circuit and signal acquisition trainer. If you are interested in a high quality automotive school experience check out DCTC.

06/08/2026

Collaboration grants college credit while students meet high school requirements.

Burnsville High School is partnering with Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) to provide automotive classes for their students.

The collaboration started Spring 2026 when Burnsville High School reached out after having difficulty replacing their retired auto teacher. DCTC's distinguished Automotive Service Technology instructor and Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence 2026 Hall of Famer, Jeff Copeland, stepped in.

“The fun is working with students who’ve never worked with cars,” Jeff said. “It gives them the experience of gaining confidence so they can fix stuff.”

Jeff is teaching 53 students across three courses this spring. The students are fulfilling high school requirements while earning credit for special topics with the college. If the students enroll at DCTC, the credits will be counted as electives.

Anthony Rivera-Wagener is a senior in Jeff’s class. “Jeff is a great teacher,” Anthony said. “Anytime we are working on our own cars, he shows us what to get done and how to fix it.”

Senior Michael Tovar agrees. “It’s pretty fun. It’s interesting to learn how things work.”

Interest in the program has exploded. There are about 130 students signed up to take classes next year at Burnsville High School, but there will be a different DCTC instructor teaching.

Jeff is taking a sabbatical to work on developing high school classes that can offer specific college credit and lead directly into various transportation programs at the college. He also hopes to develop curriculum that will help prepare students for any trade they may consider.

Read the full story on DCTC News: https://bit.ly/3RGZZoh

Learn more about DCTC’s transportation programs: https://bit.ly/3AkNFyk

Let’s talk trainers. Here at DCTC we have started acquiring a number of new training tools. These trainers allow for ins...
05/08/2026

Let’s talk trainers. Here at DCTC we have started acquiring a number of new training tools. These trainers allow for instructors to teach an isolated system, to better engage students during lecture and lab time. Recently we have added a brakes and ABS trainer, a differential trainer, a clutch trainer, and a driveshaft angle trainer. The last trainer we have is a full engine and transmission trainer with A/C system. These trainers allow us to set up faults for students to diagnose, or we can leave the system to operate under normal conditions, for students to better understand what those conditions look like. Our instructional staff have taken it upon themselves to apply for grants in order to purchase new equipment such as these.

We have another Instructor Spotlight: Everyone, please welcome Llewellyn “Lew” Olivier, the newest instructor in our Gen...
04/21/2026

We have another Instructor Spotlight: Everyone, please welcome Llewellyn “Lew” Olivier, the newest instructor in our General Automotive Program here at DCTC! Lew brings over 20 years of industry experience, ranging from independent repair shops to a Volkswagen dealership. He is a graduate of Century College’s Automotive Program and is both ASE Certified and a Volkswagen Master Technician. Lew joined our campus this spring after serving as Director of Outreach at the Minnesota Transportation Center of Excellence and is excited to bring his years of hands‑on experience and industry knowledge to our students.

Today is EV/hybrid day at DCTC, we would like to thank all of our partners for coming down and showing our students anot...
04/16/2026

Today is EV/hybrid day at DCTC, we would like to thank all of our partners for coming down and showing our students another part of our industry. All of the vehicles pictured are either fully electric or hybrid gas/electric.

We had some guests stop by to show their cars off, and have some great conversations with our students today. Thank you ...
04/08/2026

We had some guests stop by to show their cars off, and have some great conversations with our students today. Thank you Southern Cruzers car club!

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1300 145th Street E
Rosemount, MN
55068

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