Michigan Technological University is reviving a mining engineering program, bringing back a department whose Upper Peninsula roots go back to the 1800s.
Michigan Tech suspended the degree in 2004, due to shrinking enrollment and fewer faculty members. But The Daily Mining Gazette reports the program is returning in summer, and five students are expected by fall. Officials predict enrollment could rise to 20 in three to four years.
Shawn Van Doorn, a junior, has signed up. She grew up in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, home of the former Flambeau mine.
Van Doorn says there are many opportunities to see mines in the Upper Peninsula. Faculty member John Gierke says donations from alumni will pay for scholarships.
Mining engineering was the first department when the Michigan Mining School opened in 1885.