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Madison Area Technical College (Madison College) is a public technical and community college based in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves students in parts of 12 counties in south-central Wisconsin: Adams, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Marquette, Richland, Rock, and Sauk.Campus locations include several throughout the city of Madison and four regional sites in the cities of Reedsburg, Watertown, Fort Atkinson, and Portage.
The college was founded in 1912 as the Madison Continuation School, providing vocational education, citizenship, and homemaking classes. In 1921, it moved into a building next to the former Madison Central High School in downtown Madison and became known as Madison Vocational School.In response to the Great Depression, the Madison Vocational School created non-credit, continuing education courses in artisan crafts, such as millinery, woodworking, and chair-caning. During the 1942–43 academic year, courses met on the third shift to teach skills needed for wartime manufacturing jobs.
Starting in 1966, the college offered college-transfer and credit-bearing courses. In 1987, the primary campus shifted to a larger, east-side facility, built near the Truax Field Dane County Regional Airport.
In 2012, a state referendum funded physical updates at regional campuses and new construction at the Truax campus.