This September, the CCC Hastings campus will be offering a new Heavy Equipment Operator Technician program for those interested in pursuing a career in the heavy highway construction industry.

This program will offer the opportunity for students to learn how to operate bulldozers, backhoes, loaders, and other heavy equipment. A Heavy Equipment Operator Technician diploma will pave the way for career opportunities, like blade grader operator, excavating and loading machine operator, pipeline construction, highway maintenance, and land leveling.

Currently in Nebraska, there is a high demand for individuals with heavy equipment expertise. And for this reason, the CCC HEOT program was born, offering students a hands-on experience that will help them develop the skills needed to land jobs after graduation. Careers in construction not only offer graduates great starting salaries, impressive benefits and advancement opportunities, but the satisfaction of building something with their own hands.

The program is a total of 37 credit hours and includes the following courses:

  • Introduction to Craft Skills
  • Field Safety and Orientation
  • Site Layout I and II
  • Introduction to Heavy Highway Equipment
  • Heavy Equipment Operators I and II
  • Heavy Equipment Applications
  • Class B CDL

In addition to these specific course classes, students will also be required to complete 9 credits of general studies courses. This can be done in two semesters by completing 18 credits in the fall and 19 credits in the spring.

The approximate cost of the HEOT program for a Nebraska resident student is $3,500, while the approximate cost for an out-of-state student is $5,000. Room and board for two semesters at CCC-Hastings is approximately $3,200 including 14 meals a week, and $3,500 including 19 meals a week.

For more information on CCC’s room and board rates, visit: https://www.cccneb.edu/CollegeCosts/. To assist with these costs, the AGC Nebraska Chapter has scholarships available at https://agcne.org/agc-nebraska-scholarships/.

This program is being sponsored by the AGC (Associated General Contractors) Nebraska Chapter, NUCA (National Utility Contractors Association), LICA (Land Improvement Contractors of America), and other industry leaders. We look forward to getting more students involved in this program and becoming a part of the construction industry.

For more information, please contact the Program Director, Matt McCann, at matthewmccann@cccneb.edu or call 402-461-2548 (office) or 308-227-1873 (cell).