Penn College is a special mission affiliate of Penn State, committed to applied technology education. It is the second largest campus in the Penn State system, enrolling more than 6,600 students in Fall 2007 – the largest enrollment in the College’s history.
In fall 2007, more than 40 percent of students were enrolled in baccalaureate programs. The College offers bachelor and associate degrees, as well as certificates, in more than 100 career fields. Penn College students in 2007-08 were residents of 33 states and 15 nations around the world.
Overall graduate placement was 96 percent (including employment related to major, continued education, or unrelated employment), according to the most recent graduate survey.
Penn College ranked in the top 50 associate-degree-producing colleges in the nation in 2007, according to Community College Week, including top-five rankings in “precision production,” “parks, recreation and leisure activities,” and “engineering-related technologies-technicians.” Overall, 982 of graduates recorded nationally earned their associate degrees and certificates from Penn College.
In 2007, Penn College opened its new $4.8 million Center for Business and Workforce Development, funded in part ($1 million) by the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, to support economic revitalization and job growth. The center houses Penn College programs in Workforce Development & Continuing Education, as well as classrooms and labs for the Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology majors; in addition, Penn State’s Center for Continuing Education, the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC), and Williamsport/Lycoming Keystone Innovation Zone offices are in this new facility – giving the local community a “one-stop” location for all matters related to economic development and retraining.
The state’s largest worker-training program is overseen by Penn College’s Workforce Development & Continuing Education operation. Workforce & Economic Development Network of Pennsylvania (WEDnetPA) is a nationally recognized Guaranteed Free Training Program, which administers $18-$20 million annually to provide free training to 100,000 employees of 2,000 Pennsylvania companies.
The nationally recognized Plastics Manufacturing Center at Penn College also is overseen by Workforce Development & Continuing Education. As one of the state’s most competitive, advanced manufacturing industries, plastics manufacturers have an opportunity to work with faculty and students in the College’s B.S. and associate degree Plastics and Polymer Engineering Technology programs. Penn College offers one of only six Plastics and Polymer Engineering Technology programs in the nation accredited by the ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology).
The Welding department (offering B.S. in Welding and Fabrication Engineering Technology, A.A.S. in Welding Technology, and Certificate in Welding) was named one of the partners in a National Center for Excellence in Welding Education and Training project, funded for four years by the National Science Foundation.
Penn College is one of only seven colleges in the nation with dual accreditation for Accounting and Business Administration (B.S. and associate degrees) programs from Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) and International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).
Penn College is one of a group of five colleges working with a National Science Foundation grant (awarded in 2005) to establish a National Center for Aircraft Technician Training, headquartered in Texas.
Students enrolled in associate-degree construction programs at Penn College earned the top prize in student competition at the National Association of Home Builders International Builder’s Show in 2008. Students from Penn College have placed in the top three at this international competition every year 1999, earning top honors in 2005 and this year.
Penn College varsity athletic teams won six state championships in 2006-07: golf, men’s cross country, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, men’s bowling, and women’s softball; 107 of Penn College’s 225 varsity athletes were named to the Penn State University Athletic Conference All Academic Team.
Penn College’s golf team extended its five-season winning streak to 148-0 in fall 2007, capturing its fifth consecutive Penn State University Athletic Conference championship.
Two Penn College archery team members earned All-American status at the 2007 Intercollegiate Archery Championships.
Penn College was the highest-rated school in the North and second in the nation in the National Research Center for College & University Admission’s annual rankings of admission Web sites.
A “degrees that work” public television series and companion Web site produced by Penn College (www.pct.edu/degreesthatwork) was launched in 2007 to provide career awareness about technology-related career fields that may not be familiar to the general public.
