The tagline on Software Training for Students’ website reads “more useful than Candy Crush and just as free!”

On a quiet Tuesday evening, around 20 students sit behind Mac desktops in a lab buried in the basement of the Computer Science building.

The students focus their attention on the projector screen at the front of the room. Their instructor, Nolan Tenpas, a junior majoring in computer engineering and computer science, leads them through the more advanced nuances of Excel.

The software training is a component under University of Wisconsin’s Division of Information Technology, or DoIT, and offers free courses, technology workshops and consultations for UW students in software such as Adobe creative suite, office suite or more general web development.

The program has existed since 1998, with the course offerings evolving alongside the pace of technology, STS’s program manager, Marcus Miers, said.

Course trainer Allan Almeida, a sophomore majoring in nuclear engineering, said STS looks at responses based on student enrollment and feedback to determine what courses to offer and at what frequency throughout any given semester.

“Excel and Photoshop are the most popular courses, and Python as well,” Almeida said.

He noted many students use the classes for school purposes, as many computer science courses expect prior knowledge in programming systems like Python and many engineering courses require a basic understanding of Matlab.

STS has become a resource for students to take a crash course in the materials that they need to know. In the case of Python, Almeida said they will often have 70 people signed up for a 20 person class.

Beyond class, Miers said students typically attend the courses for personal or career reasons.

Sophomore Spencer Fricke, a computer engineering major, took a programming course through STS his freshman year. He said that if someone is starting to learn a program from scratch, STS is a great resource, because there is a real person there to answer questions directly. But he also pointed to Lynda.com as another free resource at students’ disposal.

Johnny Kohlbeck, a freshman majoring in finance was a student in the Excel course, and had taken an STS Photoshop course previously. He said he wanted to take advantage of the free opportunity to learn software and plans to take more courses through STS.

“It’s just an opportunity to learn something new, a little break from my schedule,” Kohlbeck said. “And it’s pretty interesting.”

Kohlbeck said the courses, such as coding or Photoshop, are especially useful for students who don’t get much exposure to such programs within their major.

Almeida said STS also offers “ask a trainer” appointments, where students can contact them with questions on a specific software. Professors, teacher assistants or student organizations can solicit STS to host custom technology workshops.

In addition to these resources, STS offers open consultation and drop-in hours in the College Library at the Design Lab four days a week.

Miers said students have asked for more sophisticated levels of accreditation. In the future, STS hopes to create a certification system to help students quantify and share the skills.

“Hopefully people are here … to learn what they want but also that the education that they get provides them with the skills and tools that they need to move forward in their careers after they graduate,” Miers said.