The campus still is waiting on an official sign to mark its building, but the Lampasas County Higher Education Center has begun offering night classes to about 80 students.

College-level courses, with an emphasis on science and health profession education, began last week at the former Lampasas Middle School campus and the new Lampasas High School. Courses are open to the public.

English, history, government and psychology -- freshmanand sophomore-level classes that offer Central Texas College credit -- are held Monday and Wednesday at the former middle school. Anatomy and physiology, a prerequisite for registered nurse certification, is Tuesday and Thursday at Lampasas High School, where laboratory space is available. Microbiology, another required RN course, is taught Monday and Friday at the high school.

Three-hour courses cost $180, the same per-hour rate CTC charges out-of-district students, said Greg Sanders, CTC’s Lampasas-area coordinator. Lampasas County Higher Education Center has six adjunct instructors, some of whom also teach dual-credit courses for Lampasas High School students.

Friday is the deadline to sign up for spring semester classes, Sanders said.

Emergency medical training may be available through LCHEC this summer, and Sanders said he hopes to offer a “summer college” as well. That program would allow high school students to earn extra dual-credit hours, the CTC coordinator said, and would give incoming college students an opportunity to earn credits early.

Plans for next spring include college biology and chemistry classes, in addition to the existing science offerings. LCHEC, in partnership with Texas State Technical College, also may offer job-related classes -- such as welding, computer training and other continuing education courses -- by next spring, Sanders said.

LCHEC’s assortment of classes has attracted students not only from Lampasas but also from Lometa, Goldthwaite, Gatesville and Burnet, he said. Even some Killeen residents enrolled in LCHEC courses when they were unable to schedule classes offered at CTC’s main campus.

LCHEC also has generated substantial interest from Kempner and Copperas Cove students, Sanders said.

“We have a bunch who come from over there,” he said.

LCHEC, in conjunction with CTC and Rollins Brook Community Hospital, is seeking grants to be administered through the Texas Rural Health Association, Sanders said. By the fall, LCHEC foundation members hope to build a college level science laboratory at the LCHEC campus at the former middle school, Sanders said.

Those interested in fund-raising should contact Mayor Judy Hetherly, he said. “We certainly won’t turn down any donations,”

For more information about LCHEC, visit Sanders at his Lampasas High School office, or phone 564-2328.