Heavy Equipment Operations & Management
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the demand for construction equipment operators equates to roughly 50,800 new jobs each year. The world depends on skilled operators to build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps everything moving, from roads and bridges to utilities and airports. At State Tech, our Heavy Equipment Operations and Management program trains the professionals who make it all possible.
Students gain hands-on experience both in the classroom and on our 40-acre heavy equipment operation site, mastering the use of a fleet of late model dozers, scrapers, wheel loaders, haul trucks, backhoes, excavators, graders, and skid steers. Our heavy equipment operators’ facilities are among the best in the country! We have 40,000 square feet of covered space to work in during inclement weather, paved CDL range, and a new classrooms and shop facility under construction! Coursework covers equipment operation, construction management, and estimating, preparing students for both field and supervisory roles. You’ll also gain practical experience performing the manual tasks typical of active construction sites, ensuring you graduate ready to work on day one. In the second year you will be exposed to the latest GPS equipment and earn your CDL license.
State Tech faculty bring real-world industry experience to the classroom, and strong partnerships with construction and equipment employers keep our curriculum and labs aligned with the latest standards. Every student completes an internship, gaining valuable on-the-job experience and building professional connections that often lead directly to employment.
Graduates of the Heavy Equipment Operations and Management program are in high demand, ready to support projects that shape communities with roads, bridges, tunnels, ports, railways, energy systems, and more. Both open and union companies hire our graduates, we have relationships with multiple operator’s unions.
Students with a degree have more job mobility and job opportunities than those without a degree. By combining best-in-class technical education with communication, math, and general studies, State Tech ensures our graduates are prepared not only to operate heavy equipment but to lead teams, manage projects, and advance their careers.
At State Tech, you’re not just running equipment, you’re shaping the future from the ground up.
Program Facts
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Why Study Heavy Equipment Operations & Management at State Tech
Job Demand
Demand is surging for skilled equipment operators in road construction, laying highways, repairing bridges, paving streets. Contractors are offering great pay, solid benefits, and long-term work to those who can operate dozers, rollers, excavators, and paving machines.
Hands-on Education
The Heavy Equipment Operations and Management program offers courses in the operation of various earth-moving equipment, as well as construction management and project estimation. Students gain hands-on experience through both simulated and real-world construction projects.
Graduate Job-Ready
Graduates are equipped to support construction projects involving roads, bridges, tunnels, ports, railways, airports, energy systems, utilities, water supply, waste management, and environmental solutions.
What you'll learn
- The Heavy Equipment Operations and Management program provides students with an Associate of Applied Science Degree. This degree produces operators trained in the major classifications of earth moving equipment and supervisory and management roles in the development and implementation of essential infrastructure that is relied upon daily.
- This program includes extensive education on a 40-acre operation site in the major classifications of earth moving equipment including dozers, scrapers, wheel loaders, backhoes, excavators, graders, and skid steers.
- The HEO program also includes 120 hours of classroom and driving instruction to prepare students for the Class A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)
Program Details
Highlights
- This hands-on, two-year program gives graduates a competitive edge in both equipment operations and job site management.
- Move, mold, and distribute soil on our 40+ acre operation and training site using a diverse line of up-to-date equipment.
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Interesting Courses
Courses include working with dozers, scrapers, wheel loaders, backhoes, excavators, graders, skid steers and drones.
Concentrations
This hands-on, two-year program gives graduates a competitive edge in both equipment operations and jobsite management.
Career Possibilities
- Utilities Construction
- Agricultural Construction
- Highway Construction
Truly hands-on education
We believe time-on-task has to be part of your education. That means time spent learning from experienced instructors in real-world environments and real-world situations. That’s why the State Tech campus is home to more than 50 labs, an automotive bay, aviation hangar, and 40+ acres of land dedicated to our heavy equipment operations program.
Meet the Faculty & Staff
Proud Supporters
Proud Supporter
McConnell and Associates is a proud supporter of State Tech and the Heavy Equipment Operations & Management program.
Proud Supporter
Vermeer Midwest is a proud supporter of State Tech and the Heavy Equipment Operations & Management program.
Proud Supporter
N.B West Contracting is a proud supporter of State Tech and the Heavy Equipment Operations & Management program.
Proud Supporter
New Frontier Materials is a proud supporter of State Tech and the Heavy Equipment Operations & Management program.
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