The school began in 1914 as an adult education and training facility at Williamsport High School. It grew into the Williamsport Technical Institute in 1941. During World War II, the school operated 24 hours per day, providing war production training to help meet defense industry needs. Additionally, both during and after the war, the institute provided training and retraining for disabled veterans. In 1965, the Williamsport Area Community College was founded, succeeding the former technical institute. It continued providing technical training for residents of northern Pennsylvania. In 1989, the college became a special mission affiliate of Pennsylvania State University and changed its name to Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Academics
Penn College offers more than 100 bachelor, associate, and certificate majors in careers ranging from manufacturing, design, transportation, and construction to hospitality, health, business, and natural resources. The college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Schools
School of Business & Hospitality
School of Construction & Design Technologies
School of Nursing & Health Sciences
School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies
School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications
School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies
Demographics
In fall 2019 Penn College posted ethnicity figures of 5,382 total students of which: 88.2% identified as White, 3.7% Hispanic/Latino, 3.3% Black or African American, 1.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and 3.3% ethnicity unknown/ multiple. 64% of students are male, 34.4% of students are between 18 and 19 years of age, 29.2% are 20 to 21 and 36.4% are over age 21. Just below 90% of students hail from or are permanent residents of Pennsylvania. 27% of students live on campus and the remaining 73% commute or live off-campus. 6.7% or nearly 800 students are veterans, active duty or reserves.
Rankings
Penn College has been ranked highly from major academic accreditors, magazines and polls. In 2019 U.S. News & World Report ranked Penn College 12th best Regional College in Northeast Region, 3rd Most Innovative School and 6th as Best College for veterans.
Campuses
In addition to the main campus in Williamsport, Penn College operates four satellite campuses situated around the West Branch Susquehanna River and northern tier of Pennsylvania.
The Herman T. Schneebeli Earth Science Center, located 10 miles south in Allenwood, offers programs such as landscape/horticulture, diesel & heavy equipment technology, heavy equipment operation, power generation, and forestry.
The Advanced Automotive Technology Center is located approximately three miles west of the Penn College main campus. Students at this campus study topics such as alternative-powered vehicles and motorsports.
Penn College at Wellsboro is located in North Central Pennsylvania in the Wellsboro Area School District Administration Building. It serves the Northern Tier communities by providing business and industry training programs as well as noncredit personal and professional development.
Le Jeune Chef restaurant
In addition to other campus dining units, Penn College has a casual fine-dining restaurant named "Le Jeune Chef". The restaurant serves as a training facility for students in the School of Business & Hospitality during service hours.
More than 60 student organizations are recognized at Penn College, many of which are student chapters of professional societies. Student Government Association serves as the students' democratic voice on campus. Wildcat Events Board works to bring many activities to the college.
Penn College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Wildcats are a member of the North Eastern Athletic Conference as of the 2013–14 academic season. They are also members of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, the Penn State University Athletic Conference, US Collegiate Archery, the National Collegiate Wrestling Association and the Mid Atlantic Men's Club Volleyball Conference. Men's sports include archery, baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and wrestling. Women's sports include archery, basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. The college also sponsors club sports including bowling, dancing, martial arts, men's lacrosse, men's volleyball and powerlifting.
Significant athletic achievements
Baseball: 2015 NEAC champions. The program has had 10 conference championships and nine All-Americans.
Golf: sixth at NEAC championship and 10th at 2015 USCAA national tournament. Two golfers won All-NEAC honors.
Archery: finished third overall with three individual first-place finishes. The program has had 76 All-Americans.
On-campus housing
Penn College has three residence hall complexes, each comprising several buildings:
Rose Street Commons
Campus View Apartments
The Village at Penn College
Student safety
Penn College Police was formed the summer of 1994 prior to the 1994–95 school year. The police department carries out security and safety duties as well as investigative procedures for crimes committed on campus. With over 7,000 students, staff and college visitors on a given school day on campus they have 15 full-time officers, 4 property protection officers and 8 security guards. They operate a fleet of Ford Police Interceptor Utilitys, Ford Police Interceptor Sedans and Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. The Penn College Police Department responds to over 5,000 calls for service every year, mostly involving underage drinking on campus, property theft, drug possession and weapon possession. They are also a major player in mutual aid often backing up units from Williamsport PD and South Williamsport PD.
