President’s Message
Thank you for helping us to move the mission forward.
Generous donors establish 40 new scholarships
In 2023-24, Pennsylvania College of Technology and the Penn College Foundation awarded scholarships to 660 students, totaling $1,629,203. Forty new scholarships were established through Penn College and the foundation.
Andrew Graham
Andrew sets massive goals and works hard to achieve them. He's back for his second Penn College degree, uniting his passions for automotive and information technology. He's grateful for all who invest in tomorrow's workforce, with special thanks for the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation's scholarship support for mature students.
Lauren Peck
Lauren thought she wanted to go to college far away from home. After touring the aviation hangar and hearing about the hands-on approach, she realized her best opportunity was closer than she imagined.
James Fretz
James has a knack for networking and a passion for preserving historical structures. This powerful combination, paired with his applied technology education, is opening doors to valuable experiences including a rewarding summer internship, a mission-focused global experience, and a restoration project on the oldest state capitol in the nation.
Foundation Dinner & Auction raises over $140K for scholarships
The 14th Pennsylvania College of Technology Foundation Dinner & Auction raised a total of $141,000 for student scholarships at the college.
Golf Classic raises $120K for scholarships at Penn College
The Pennsylvania College of Technology Foundation’s 38th Annual Golf Classic raised $120,000 recently for student scholarships.
Pace-O-Matic collaborates with IT programs
A Georgia-based developer of legally compliant skill games, already a scholarship supporter, looks to add internship opportunities to its support of Penn College’s information technology students.
Penn College hosts Baja SAE
Enterprising students from 102 colleges tested their engineering prowess at Baja SAE Williamsport, an action-packed, four-day event hosted by Penn College in May. Students, faculty and corporate partners transformed a college property for the event. The college’s Baja racing team finished 10th overall.
Classes add global travel to student learning
Supporting Penn College’s mission to educate future leaders with real-world experience, faculty members led more than 130 students in exploring new parts of that world through six Global Experience classes.
Landscape students compete nationally
Penn College student Laura A. Snyder placed seventh overall among 595 competitors at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition in Utah. She earned three top-10 finishes and received the Akerman Family Scholarship. The college’s team placed 16th among 50 schools.
Men’s cross-country captures United East championship
Penn College's men's cross-country team, paced by Mitchell Campbell's third-place individual finish, scored 53 points and won the United East Conference Championship. The crown was the first for the Wildcat men in the NCAA era that began in 2014.
Softball wins conference championship
The Wildcats won the United East Championship, earning a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in four seasons.
Golfer finishes 17th in nation
In Nevada, Penn College's Peyton Mussina ended four days of competition in the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship at 286, tied for 17th in the country.
Haas gift transforms manufacturing education
A $1 million grant from the Gene Haas Foundation sparked extensive renovations to Penn College’s automated manufacturing lab while expanding scholarship offerings and enabling the college to promote manufacturing careers more broadly to K-12 students.
HVAC majors benefit from Johnson Controls program
Johnson Controls granted $100,000 to support the institution’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning majors as part of its $15 million Community College Partnership Program, designed to inspire the next generation of workforce leaders.
Phillips Charitable Trust enhances surgical technology education
A gift from the Dr. and Mrs. Arthur William Phillips Charitable Trust has helped Pennsylvania College of Technology purchase PeriopSim, a virtual reality simulation learning system, for its surgical technology program. Using virtual reality headsets and hand controls, students are immersed in a virtual operating room environment, allowing them to practice surgical procedures repeatedly in a safe, controlled environment.
Alumnus's gift supports materials library
Jeffrey L. Erdly ’72 has designated a $500,000 gift for an endowment that can be used by the college’s School of Engineering Technologies for program materials, scholarships and more, and for the creation of a materials library at the Carl Building Technologies Center.
Automation students benefit from software donation
Inductive Automation, a leader in the industrial software market, provided multiple licenses of its Ignition software, a platform for quickly building and developing industrial applications, including SCADA, HMI and IIoT. The value of the donation is over $750,000.
Endowment gift supports Center for Academic Excellence
The renamed Michael J. Hudock Sr. Center for Academic Excellence honors the lifelong service of a beloved and dedicated area educator, coach and mentor. A $250,000 endowed gift from Hudock’s wife, Barbara , CEO and founding partner of Hudock Capital Group LLC, supports the center’s programs and services for Penn College students.
Dedication celebrates additive manufacturing center
Penn College formally dedicated the Jean McMahon Soars Center for Additive Manufacturing in the College Avenue Labs facility. “Students will be exposed to the various possibilities of additive manufacturing earlier in their academic journey,” said Bradley M. Webb, dean of engineering technologies. “They will have a collaborative space to design, dream and do.”
Coterra gift supports new architecture suite
The architecture & sustainable design program moved to a newly renovated space that enhances student workspaces and provides room to expand enrollment. The renovation was funded by a portion of a $1.4 million gift made by Coterra Energy through the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development’s Neighborhood Assistance Program.
Kenworth of PA donates first-of-its-kind engine
Kenworth of Pennsylvania has donated a Paccar MX 13 engine. The equipment is the first MX engine introduced into Penn College’s diesel technology labs, stirring enthusiasm from students and faculty.
Bihler entrusts stamping and forming center
Penn College students eyeing manufacturing-related careers are benefiting from a machine entrustment valued at $625,000. The Bihler 4 Slide-NC is a high-tech metal stamping and forming center entrusted to the college for two years by Otto Bihler Maschinenfabrik and Bihler of America Inc.
Groundbreaking celebrates workforce-boosting initiatives
The college broke ground for two projects funded, in part, by a $2 million U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration grant: construction of an 1,800-square-foot Clean Energy House and renovations to the Kenneth E. Carl Building Technologies Center.
Siemens donates to electrical program
Siemens Smart Infrastructure provided 21 125-ampere load centers containing a variety of circuit breakers. “The load centers will be used to replace our older units, and students will now have exposure to the newer-style circuit breakers,” said Art L. Counterman, instructor of electrical technology/occupations.
Will De Marco ’19
A Penn College landscape/plant production graduate, Will is living his dream job as a business owner and landscape designer for Xavier Landscaping.
Watch Will's video
Ali Petrizzi ‘20
A graphic design grad and senior UX designer for Microsoft, Ali loves experiments, evidence and AI.
In a “Tomorrow Makers” podcast with faculty member Nicholas L. Stephenson, she advises tomorrow’s designers: “Be playful, be fun with it, be curious … be persistent.”
Listen To The Podcast
Michael Wert ‘67
Michael Wert ’67, retired CEO of DiMark Inc., the marketing services company he co-founded in Langhorne, received Penn College’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
The firm became a national leader in data-driven integrated marketing, with an emphasis on insurance and health care.
Read More
Ryan Sokoloski ’08
Ryan lent his expertise to building projects at the U.S. Capitol, the Kennedy Center, and Arlington Cemetery.
Now the director of building operations for National Geographic, he is overseeing a colossal transformation of the society’s museum in Washington, D.C.
Meet Ryan
Alicia “Marti” Martinez
The August 2024 issue of Avionics News features an article on Pennsylvania College of Technology alumna Alicia “Marti” Martinez, who earned her Bachelor of Science in aviation maintenance technology on Aug. 3.
Meet Alicia
Guaranteed momentum at B. Braun Medical
Challenged to develop innovative medical solutions, Penn College graduates employed by B. Braun Medical are designing sustainable solutions to meet today’s health care demands.
Meet The Team
Eli Hughes ‘01
A high school student who was more interested in playing guitar than doing homework was turned onto electronics at Penn College, and an inventive career in electronics and acoustics has followed.
Meet Eli
Four alumni honored at spring commencements
Penn College presented honors to four alumni during Spring 2024 commencement ceremonies: Kate McCall Stepnick ‘07 received the Alumni Humanitarian Award.
Brothers Daniel T. Hornberger ’06, ’08, and Richard C. Hornberger ’02, 04, were recognized with Distinguished Alumni Awards; and Corey A. Sarver ’97 accepted the Alumni Mentorship Award.
Read More
Elizabeth Legarski '12 and Kayla Kerstetter '24
Nursing grads Elizabeth A. Legarski ’12 – now a Penn College instructor – and Kayla Kerstetter ’24 found their way to nursing after exploring other career paths. They share their journeys in a Penn College Tomorrow Maker’s podcoast.
Listen to the podcast
All eyes, hands on tomorrow at camp for middle schoolers
Two rounds of Penn College’s My Tomorrow camp guided middle school students in a wide range of career-related activities, helping campers imagine a future in engineering, business, arts and health care. My Tomorrow is sponsored by the Soars Family.
Berks CTC team tops Penn College’s diesel competition
Twenty-eight participants from nearly a dozen career and technical education centers vied for glory in the diesel competition at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center, representing the readily attainable possibilities that await those pursuing an applied technology education.
College introduces post-master’s certificate in nursing education
Pennsylvania College of Technology launched a post-master’s certificate in nursing education, admitting its first cohort in Summer 2024. “This program is an effort by Penn College to help increase the available nurse educators and do our part in working toward reducing the nursing shortage,” explained Kelly T. Bidlespacher, director of nursing: bachelor’s and graduate degrees.
K-12 teachers receive cyber education at Penn College
Nineteen middle and high school educators received a free education in cybersecurity, courtesy of the college’s GenCyber Camp. Supported by the National Security Agency and National Science Foundation, the program’s goal is to build a strong cybersecurity workforce by igniting interest at the secondary level. The teachers learned concepts that they can share in their classrooms.
Your investment develops young leaders for their chosen fields, positively influencing and giving strength to local and global societies.
Donor List
Your collective gifts are at work for students in the form of scholarships; new equipment and technology; academic lab, classroom and facility enhancements; and extracurricular leadership opportunities.
1914 Society
We celebrate individual donors who make annual gifts of $1,000 or more to support Pennsylvania College of Technology students as they work to turn their dreams into reality.
Pillar Society
We recognize individuals who demonstrate their commitment to Penn College by naming the College or the Penn College Foundation as beneficiary of a planned gift.
Donor Wall
We celebrate the generosity of alumni, corporate partners, friends, and employees whose cumulative giving has made a lasting impression on our campus.
College attains federal ‘Registered Apprenticeship’ status
“This prestigious national recognition validates the exceptional quality of our apprenticeship programs and our institution’s role in developing the highly skilled workforce manufacturers need to drive innovation and remain competitive globally,” said Michael J. Reed, Penn College president.
College honored on ‘Best for Vets’ list
Penn College is among 325 higher education institutions nationwide recognized in the Military Times 2023 Best for Vets: Colleges list.
Rankings
Penn College earns high marks in ‘Best Colleges’ rankings
Penn College is the No. 1 school for innovation – and for veteran students – as well as the No. 3 top public school in the Regional Colleges (North) classification in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Colleges rankings.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Pennsylvania College of Technology ranks among the best colleges in the U.S.:
| #1 | in Most Innovative Schools |
| #1 | in Best Colleges for Veterans |
| #3 | in Top Public Schools |
| #5 | in Regional Colleges North |