ACT Center to Open in Fort Smith

Westark College in Fort Smith plans to open an ACT Center for career training, testing and licensing this fall. ACT Inc., formerly known as American College Testing, opened its first ACT Center in July in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

rACT vice president Doyle Young said Westark is among 250 centers that should be operating within a year. Generally, centers locate within community colleges, but the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has also agreed to develop a location.

rInitial costs for the center in Fort Smith were about $25,000, with a majority of the money being spent on computers to accommodate ACT course software. Set to open before 2001, the Westark center will be the first of its kind in Arkansas.

rMostly Internet-based, the centers allow students to enroll in any of the 100 professional courses that are offered, and Young said at least 1,000 courses will be available as the program progresses. Courses include business-related topics as well as technical skills like those used by mechanics.

rClasses through the centers average two to three hours in length, and course prices range from $15 to $100. Students of the centers don’t need to enroll in the community college to take the classes.

rKnown for its precollege tests, ACT Centers also administer “high-stakes testing” such as bar exams and medical licensing, Young said.

rAs more courses become offered online, Young said, ACT Centers stand out because they direct people to the classes they need for their particular profession. While each center maintains a server for the courses, 66 percent of the classes can be conducted on the Internet.