West Orange, NJ, Nov. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ: LINC), a national leader in technical training for more than 20 hands-on career fields, has placed over 90% of graduates from a specialized training program at its South Plainfield, NJ campus. This according to reports submitted in 2019 and 2020 to the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, the agency which oversees vocational school performance.
Lincoln Tech’s Diesel and Truck Technology with Transport Refrigeration program, available exclusively at the South Plainfield campus, expands on traditional diesel training by adding classes focused on the mechanics and technology behind these complex cooling systems. On-board refrigeration units keep trailers cold when they’re moving goods like produce and medications around the state and across the region. Lincoln Tech’s program helps students develop the skills for troubleshooting and repairing these systems, keeping them in peak working condition so that the cargo arrives safely chilled at supermarkets, restaurants and other destinations.
“We’re proud to offer one of the only transport refrigeration maintenance programs in the area – and certainly one of the longest-running,” says Jim Kuntz, President of the South Plainfield campus. “It’s a highly specialized skill set, and one that’s in real demand in this region. Our placement rates over the last several years certainly reflect that.”
Placement rates – the statistics that measure how many students launched careers in the field as a percentage of total graduates – are reported by all accredited technical schools to ensure quality of education and successful outcomes for its students. That rate was over 90% for this specialized program at the South Plainfield campus. Kuntz credits the commitment accepted students show to beginning their new careers, and the partnership enjoyed by Lincoln Tech with Thermo King East – one of New Jersey’s top employers in the industry.
“This is a small, exclusive program that students need to qualify for, and be accepted into,” Kuntz explains. “We were able to help most graduates begin a career in transport refrigeration during those reporting periods and we are hoping to continue those results in spite of the challenges the year has brought. A large part of that success has been our hiring partnership with Thermo King East and the outstanding support of General Manager Tom Commaroto and his team.”
“We spread the word to Thermo King locations around the country that partnering with Lincoln Tech is a smart decision,” says Commaroto – whose son is also a Lincoln Tech graduate, and now works for Thermo King East as a Service Manager. “We’ve always had good luck with Lincoln graduates. It’s common knowledge through Thermo King that Lincoln Tech has quality training programs you can’t find at other schools.”
Commaroto cites the length of Lincoln’s Transport Refrigeration program – 12 weeks as opposed to condensed 2-week courses offered at other schools – as a reason graduates are better prepared. “That extra hands-on practice and experience is so valuable,” he says. “Lincoln graduates are ready to hit the ground running right out of school, and can potentially move up faster in their careers.”
Other graduates from the Transport Refrigeration program have gone on to start careers with companies including U.S. Foods, Ryder, and Miller Truck Leasing.
The Transport Refrigeration field could see a rapid acceleration in hiring in the coming months as the nation prepares for a potential COVID-19 vaccine in the first half of 2021. The vaccine will need to be shipped across the country in refrigerated containers, leading to an increased demand for technicians who can service the specialized equipment necessary.
“Transport Refrigeration is a niche industry that keeps the country going,” Commaroto adds. “In a way, these careers are recession-proof.”
In addition to the Transport Refrigeration program and its standard Diesel and Truck Technology program, the South Plainfield campus also offers training opportunities in Heavy Equipment Maintenance and Welding Technology. The campus annually places at least four of every five graduates within three months of graduation, and enjoys relationships with hiring partners in New Jersey, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania.
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About Lincoln Educational Services Corporation
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation is a leading provider of diversified career-oriented post-secondary education. Lincoln offers recent high school graduates and working adults career-oriented programs in five principal areas of study: automotive technology, health sciences, skilled trades, information technology, and hospitality services. Lincoln has provided the workforce with skilled technicians since its inception in 1946.
Lincoln currently operates 22 campuses in 14 states under three brands: Lincoln Technical Institute, Lincoln College of Technology, and Euphoria Institute of Beauty Arts and Sciences. Lincoln also operates Lincoln Culinary Institute in the states of Connecticut and Maryland.
For more information, go to lincolntech.edu.