College near Pittsburgh offers midnight welding

OAKDALE, Pa. (AP) — A community college near Pittsburgh says supply and demand has prompted it to offer a midnight welding class four nights a week.

The Community College of Allegheny County says the demand for welders is rising but it only has so much lab space to teach the craft so officials have gotten creative about scheduling classes at off-peak hours.

That’s why the school in Oakdale, west of Pittsburgh, will start offering a welding class from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday through Thursday starting Jan. 25.

The school’s welding program had 29 students last fall, but has 109 this fall.

The school says the odd-hours program works well for many students, because they may be displaced workers or have child-care issues if they went to school during daylight hours.