Penn Highlands Community College Plans Centre County Location, Enters Partnership with CPI

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College this week announced the signing of three articulation agreements with the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology in a move toward opening a new location in Bellefonte.

The agreements align with the community college’s expansion plans and will allow students to apply credits earned at Pleasant Gap-based CPI toward associate degree programs at Penn Highlands, according to a news release.

“Penn Highlands is a mission-focused institution where we connect and partner with like-minded and community-focused organizations like CPI,” Penn Highlands President Steve Nunez said in a statement. “This partnership is not just good for Penn Highlands and CPI, but most importantly for the communities and students we both serve. I hope this is just the first of many fruitful agreements between our great institutions.”

CPI students will be able to transfer up to six courses for a total of 16 credits toward an early childhood education associate degree, three courses for nine credits in network administration and 15 credits of technical electives for entrepreneurship.

“CPI does an excellent job of training high school students and adults to go into the workforce,” Cynthia Doherty, Penn Highlands vice president of academic affairs, said. “These articulation agreements will allow their students to continue to Penn Highlands to earn college credit toward a certificate or degree program and continue to build their path to a new career.”

The agreements are Penn Highlands’ first with a Centre County vocational school. CPI offers career and technical programs for Bald Eagle, Bellefonte and Penns Valley high school students, as well as post-secondary certificate, diploma and specialized technology degree programs.

“Partnering with Penn Highlands is a wonderful opportunity for CPI, our students, and the community,” CPI President MaryAnn Volders said. “We strive to provide as many post-secondary options as we can for our career and technical high school students. I appreciate what Penn Highlands has to offer our community and our students. We look forward to working with Penn Highlands in any way that we can to provide new experiences for our students.”

Penn Highlands has a full campus in Johnstown, with additional locations in Altoona, Ebensburg and Somerset and a drop-in center in Huntingdon.