Category Archives: Penn College

careers, community college, gap year, Penn College

What Are the Alternatives to Traditional College?

February 4, 2016 Suzanne Shaffer

If traditional college isn’t for everyone, what’s the alternative?

Yesterday I posted an article: “Should Every Child Go To College?” The answer: It’s not for every child and parents shouldn’t push if it isn’t happening. You know your child better than anyone. Think outside the box and help your child find the right path.

Here are some other options beyond the traditional college path:

Community college

Many graduating seniors have decided to take the community college path. They made that choice for several reasons: cost, academic preparation, and the freedom to stay at home for the first few years. Community colleges aren’t just training grounds for technical careers, they are also the first stop for about 4 in 10 of college-bound high school graduates.

A gap year

More and more students are considering a gap year (or gap years) after high school. This time would be to explore career options, travel to discover yourself and gain cultural experience, volunteer for a year in a community service job or abroad, or work with the goal of saving money for college.

The military

While the military is not for everyone, it is a viable option for many students. Not only will you learn discipline, organization, and teamwork, but you will also gain job experience. The military has numerous career options to choose from that will transition into the workforce after your term of service is over. An added benefit is the education benefit veterans receive, allowing you to attend college using government funding.

Work and community college

Another option you might choose is working while attending community college. You can take as few courses as your time permits and ease into the college level courses. Working during community college also allows you to pay for college as you attend, avoiding large amounts of student loan debt.

Trade school or apprenticeship

The trades and/or apprenticeships are certainly overlooked as a path after college. Pursuing a trade ensures job security and future earning potential. You can go to a specific career school such as an art or fashion institute or a culinary institute, or you can work in with a professional learning their trade. Another option would be to consider a college that focuses not only on academics but also on hands on education. One such college is Pennsylvania College of Technology. You can read all about them in these series of articles.

Internships

Students can also work at paid or unpaid internships after high school. These internships will help you discover your interests and gain insight into various careers and what training or education you would need. Many employers offer paid education benefits while working and will often hire you as a full time employee after completion of the internship and/or education.

If your student seems unmotivated or uninterested in college have a serious discussion about his plans after high school. Make it clear that he needs a plan and help him formulate that plan. If they become part of the planning process and are involved in the decision making, they will be much happier with their choices.

Penn College

Degrees That Work: Why Choose Pennsylvania College of Technology?

June 16, 2015 Suzanne Shaffer

Tomorrow night Pennsylvania College of Technology will be the guest on #CampusChat (9PM ET). I’m excited to hear from them about why you should choose Penn College and share their unique philosophy of higher education. After much exposure to the college itself, its course materials, and speaking with its faculty and administration, I have my own reasons for choosing Penn College as a higher education destination for your student. Following are five of them:

Penn College offers hands-on education

The labs at Penn College are like no other on any college campus. These labs simulate the working world and students get hand-on experience developing career skills, problem solving, and a hands-on approach of what it will be like to work in the “real world” after college. Students are able to take what they learn in the classroom and use it immediately in these work environments.

Penn College’s faculty is unique

The faculty at Penn College is unique in the sense that they are all industry professionals, not merely academics. There are no student-taught classes like you might find at larger universities. The faculty is committed to assuring that once students graduate, they have the skills to immediately enter the workforce as a trained employee. With a small student to faculty ratio, students are given the individual attention and training they need to succeed.

Penn College offers a well-rounded college experience

Penn College is not just a technical school—it’s so much more. This is no ordinary college. The college not only offers state-of-the art labs and trained professional teachers, it offers every amenity you will find at a traditional college: Greek life, on-campus student housing with an active residential student population, collegiate sports, student clubs and organizations and much more. Students are not only immersed in the technical aspects of their career, but they receive a strong liberal arts education as well, grounded in math and science.

Penn College is affordable

With tuition at under $30,000 a year, this makes Penn College affordable. The college is committed to helping students finance their education as well and have backed this up with scholarships and merit aid. The alumni of Penn College raised 6.4 million dollars last year for their scholarship fund. This money is earmarked for deserving students, both with need and with no financial need.

Penn College puts students first

Penn College believes that a strong student population means a successful workforce. The college also invests in future students by providing opportunities for young students to help them discover careers that interest them. The faculty builds relationships with the students, starting with the future generation and continuing as those students go on to attend Penn College. All members of the faculty are accessible and can often be found in labs throughout the day, even after scheduled class times, helping students with questions and providing additional training.

If you would like more information about Pennsylvania College of Technology (@PennCollege) or to speak directly to the President of the college, Dr. Gilmour (@GilmourDavie) set a reminder for tomorrow’s chat (Wednesday at 9PM ET on Twitter using the #CampusChat hashtag. Penn College might be one of the best kept secrets in higher education, but it could be the right fit college for your student.

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Scholarship Friday: Penn College Scholarships

June 12, 2015 Suzanne Shaffer

As part of my #DegreesThatWork series, I thought it would be fitting to write about Penn College scholarships. They are committed to helping their students finance their education and have backed up that commitment with scholarships and merit aid.

As I mentioned in my first post, Degrees That Work: A College’s Best Kept Secret, the alumni of Penn College raised 6.4 million dollars last year for their scholarship fund. This money is earmarked for deserving students, both with need and with no financial need. This is no ordinary college. The lists of scholarships available to students is mind blowing–yes, I said mind blowing. And the good news is you only have to fill out their scholarship application once a year and it will match you with available scholarships, making it easy to find them and apply.

Head over to their scholarship page for an extensive list: http://www.pct.edu/scholarships/scholarships.htm

And…if that’s not enough, the page also provides you with an External Scholarship List for various majors, and a link to their STEM scholarship.

These available scholarships are just one more reason to consider Penn College when creating your college list.

Next week on #CampusChat, we will host @PennCollege as our guest. Bring your questions and learn all about the amazing opportunities available at Penn College and their Degrees That Work program.

Penn College

Degrees That Work: Penn College Has a Vision for Tomorrow’s Students

June 4, 2015 Suzanne Shaffer 1 Comment

This is the fourth article in a series about Pennsylvania Technical College: Degrees That Work.

tomorrow's students Penn College is not only committed to its current students, but it has a vision for tomorrow’s students. While I was visiting the college, I had a conversation with a middle school teacher who had brought some her students to work in the computer lab. It was a yearly tradition for her and afterwards many of her students decided to attend Penn College.

The college offers opportunities for young people to help them discover careers that interest them and get some hands-on work with the professors in the process. In the spring and the fall, they host a career day for over 1000 middle-school students. The event is designed to give participants a taste of a variety of tomorrow's students career options, which will help them make informed decisions about their future education. In a program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, seventh and eighth graders in an after-school program visit the college once a week to explore career options. In the spring, Penn College offered more hands-on activities for children and their families at a Science Festival. The math and science demonstrations were geared toward elementary and middle school students, in an effort to make learning fun.

Summer Career Events

In the summer, Penn College has various events scheduled for students to give them more information about various careers that will help them decide a career path after high school graduation.

Business for the 21st Century Career Camp

This two-day camp introduces students entering grades 9-12 to a variety of digital marketing and sports & event management and promotion career areas. Students will receive information on management and marketing skills relating to sports, events, and digital marketing along with hands-on workshops.

Designing a Digital Future Camp

This two-day camp introduces students entering grades 10-12 to a variety of digital media-based careers. Participants will receive information on gaming, web, and graphic design careers along with hands-on workshops developing personal games, mobile applications, and Lego robots.

Future Restaurateurs Career Camp

This two-day camp introduces students entering grades 9-12 to a variety of hands-on demonstrations and explores careers in baking & pastry arts, culinary arts, and hospitality management. Students participate in menu planning and dining etiquette workshops as well as developing kitchen and baking skills.

Health Careers Camp

This two-day camp introduces students entering grades 9-12 to a variety of health careers who also tour health facilities and network with current students and faculty as well as health employees.

SMART Girls

Penn College developed Science and Math Applications in Real-World Technologies (SMART) Girls to counter an alarming academic and social trend: girls tend to shy away from math and sciences as they enter adolescence and their important high school years. SMART Girls provides young females the opportunity to experience math and science as a foundation for careers in technology. It offers young girls, in grades 9-11, the opportunity to experience math and science as a foundation for careers in technology. Hands-on experiences will range from crushing concrete (working with compression strength) to cyber challenges (creating Web pages).

Creativity Art Camp

Creativity Camp at Penn College provides kids entering grades 4 – 6 the chance to explore art and creativity through a variety of art media. Campers work with professional artists to produce unique works of art, focus on the creative process, and develop their imagination and creativity.

Youth Training for Athletic Development Camp

The program format is specific to youth training based on National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA) guidelines, and is taught by Penn College Physical Fitness Specialist faculty. Participants in the camp learn injury prevention, technique fundamentals, sport-specific training, nutrition education, agility and speed progression, functional training, and resistance training.

Degrees That Work TV

Early exposure to technology and emerging career fields helps prepare students for rewarding futures. Educators (grades 7-12) are encouraged to use episodes of degrees that work.tv and corresponding free lesson planning guides to help make that connection. Each 28-minute episode of the documentary series reveals interesting stories and valuable information related to the U.S. Department of Education’s career clusters, which provide career awareness and direction for students.

Check out the other articles in the Degrees That Work series:

college majors, college planning, Penn College

Degrees That Work: Planning for a Career, Not Just a Job

May 28, 2015 Suzanne Shaffer 1 Comment

Wouldn’t it be great to graduate from college with a career and not just a job? Students all over the country dream of graduating from college with a job. Penn College students graduate with a career.

During my time on campus I spoke with students from all career concentrations and the overwhelming response was, “This education is preparing me for a career, and for a career that I love.” That’s the key—students at Penn College don’t just earn a degree; they discover their true passion and learn the skills to pursue it.

There’s no better way to see the impact of this college than through the words of its students and the companies who employ them.

94% of graduates responding to a survey were employed, continuing their education, or serving in the military within one year of graduation.

“I will … not be left with what so many college graduates are left with … uncertainty about the future. All the degree programs at Penn College prepare students for having a job and take away the uncertainty.” — Matthew Stoltz, Physician Assistant

“My major was a mix of theory and lab … that’s why I came here (Penn College). The reward for completing this major is job security.” —Jorgette Grosso, Systems Application Engineer, Schneider Electric Co.

“In this field (Building Automation Technology), you can write your ticket before graduating … I couldn’t have picked a better place to go.” — Adam Yoder, Service Energy Analyst, Honeywell International

“Throughout each day I am faced with a very wide variety of troubleshooting issues. From networking and communication, to PLC programming, to component and other circuit issues, Penn College has prepared me for it all. I would not be as successful as I am today if I hadn’t made the decision to get my degree from Pennsylvania College of Technology.” –Francis “Dave” Nevill, Controls Engineer, First Quality Enterprises, Inc.

“The hands-on education from Penn College allowed me to hit the ground running from day one on the job. I was able to contribute to my company with the technical skills I’ve learned from college.”—Zachary Brook, Pennsy Corporation

“I attribute the hands-on, strong, and practical work ethic I received from Penn College as the building block to my accelerated career path.”—Sean Stabler, Business Development Engineer, Arkema, Inc.

“Industrial and technological change is inevitable and these changes require a deeper understanding of asset procurement, integration, and organizational-change management … take advantage of the diverse curriculum and extracurricular activities at Penn College to advance in industry, as well as in life.”—Robert Blauser, Manufacturing engineer leader, Harley-Davidson Motor Company

In 2013-14, more than 75 employers participated in on-campus recruiting information and interview sessions, 34 Fortune 500 companies recruited Penn College students and alumni, and 367 employers offering more than 5,200 jobs attended the Penn College Career Fairs.

“We are proud that we have added another Penn College graduate to our team.” — Roger Kipp, Vice President-Engineering, McClarin Plastics, Inc.

“Pennsylvania College of Technology has provided Synthes, USA with a valuable talent pool of manufacturing engineers, engineering technicians, and CNC machinists over the past eight years … In fact, our #1 source for manufacturing engineers over the past several years has been Penn College alumni.”—Mike Sticklin, SPHR, Human Resources Manager, Synths USA Brandywine Plant

Penn College is providing its students with more than a college education. It is preparing them for a career coupled with a unique college experience, a college with all the offerings of any four year university, and a faculty committed to giving their students a hands-on education.

Check out the other articles in the Degrees That Work series: Degrees That Work: One College’s Best Kept Secret; Degrees That Work: A Working World Within a College

college guidance, college majors, Penn College

Degrees That Work: A Working World Within a College

May 21, 2015 Suzanne Shaffer 2 Comments

This week I continue my series on Degrees That Work—a look at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Take a visual walk with me across the campus and you will see there are labs; and then there are labs.

Anyone who has ever been to high school or college has done lab work related to a class. But as I mentioned previously, Penn College is no ordinary college. What does that mean? The labs on their campus are no ordinary labs. It’s one thing to add a lab to coursework days after the subject is studied. It’s another thing to use the lab for hands-on training and experience immediately after learning about it in the classroom.

Penn College has taken this concept and turned it into a well oiled, rock star training, job securing, life-altering education.

These labs simulate the working world

It may be hard to visualize the scope of these on-campus labs, but imagine several mini-worlds all operating under one roof. You have a chef’s kitchen, fully equipped with students taught by professional chefs and a fully staffed restaurant serving their culinary creations. Across the campus you have a construction zone with miniature houses from foundation to roof, with plumbing, electrical, and trim work all being completed by the students. In another facility on campus you have welding cubicles where each student has the opportunity to practice his craft with real-world simulations on pipes and fittings. Walk down a long corridor and you find yourself in a full automotive diagnostic room and automotive bay with actual vehicles and students solving electrical and mechanical problems.

Off campus on separate facilities you can find an aviation hangar with every flying craft imaginable from a helicopter, to a small single engine plane, to a private jet, to a commercial airliner donated by FedEx. A short drive down the road there is a forestry department with actual logging facilities, greenhouses, and several working oil rigs used to train students for the oil industry.

These labs teach students how to deal with real world problems and issues

Students are given hands-on experience dealing with and diagnosing problems as their education progresses. By providing students with actual problems, Penn College teaches them to master these problems and find solutions before they enter the workforce. The automotive training requires students disassemble and reassemble a complete engine, diagnosing any problems that might occur upon reassembly. The aviation training gives student actual simulation experiences with warning lights, faulty wires, and instrument malfunctions.

Have you ever wished that the student nurse trying to draw blood had actually practiced on a live human before you? Penn College solved this problem with their SIMM family. Students in their health science program get the opportunity to practice using this SIMM family. These simulations cover everything from live childbirth (I got to experience this!) to caring for the rest of the family. Instructors can simulate illnesses and emergency situations that might arise during a healthcare situation. This SIMM family is like no other in any education training program.

These labs prepare students to enter the workforce as fully trained employees

Once students graduate from Penn College they can hit the ground running. It’s not necessary for employers to train them on basic techniques or skills. They are familiar with equipment, tools, practices and techniques used to work at their chosen career immediately after graduation. Employers hire Penn College students because they know these students have been trained properly and are familiar with their products, services, and equipment.

These labs spawn creativity, innovation, and confidence

Students from Penn College compete in competitions all across the country. They are challenged to search for ways to solve common problems and push the boundaries using the skills and techniques they learn in these labs. Manufacturing engineering technology students have spent the past year constructing, from scratch, a battery pack intended for lithium batteries and an electric car. Just recently, Penn College student chefs helped prepare the Kentucky Derby feast for 140,000 fans. Students are encouraged to move beyond the basic textbook knowledge and find ways to improve the working world with the skills and technology they receive from a Penn College education.

Watch this short video to see why students love the working world within Penn College:

If you missed the first article in the series, click here–>Degrees That Work: One College’s Best Kept Secret

admissions, college guidance, college prep, Penn College

Degrees That Work: One College’s Best Kept Secret

May 12, 2015 Suzanne Shaffer 4 Comments

Imagine knowing when your student graduates from college he will have a skill, a high quality liberal arts education, and a job. Imagine a technical education with a liberal arts degree. Imagine your student doing a job he actually enjoys and is related to his major after graduation. Until recently, these claims did not seem possible—that was until I visited and met the students at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

After the first hour of my visit at Penn College I said, “This is the best kept secret in college admissions.” Why haven’t I heard of them? Why haven’t other colleges adopted this philosophy? And why on earth aren’t more parents aware of this college option?

This is no ordinary college. It’s a college with a national reputation for education that impacts real life. Companies support the college, sending equipment and materials for training because they know the college will train competent students they can hire after graduation.

This is no ordinary campus. From the day a student arrives on campus he begins to have a hands-on education. Students spend a significant amount of time practicing what they learn in class. The campus labs simulate real working environments.

This is no ordinary faculty. The faculty of Penn College are industry professionals. They have worked in these industries developing hands on experience, sharing that expertise with their students.

This is no ordinary tuition bill. Four out of five students receive financial aid to cover the cost of college. To top it off, this college is a bargain: tuition room and board for in-state residents is under $30,000 a year; out of state students pay just a few thousand more.

This is no ordinary degree. A Penn College degree combines a comprehensive liberal arts education with hands-on experience using advanced technologies. This is a real advantage for graduates, who have the experience upon graduation to go immediately into the workforce.

This is no ordinary technical college. From sports, to greek life, to student led clubs, to full on-campus housing, to a faculty and administration (right up to the President of the college) that can be found walking around campus, interacting with students on a daily basis, this college has it all. It’s just like any traditional college campus–but so much more.

These are no ordinary alumni. During their centennial celebration the alumni launched their Penn College Scholarship Campaign. They raised $6.4 million for scholarships, increasing the college’s scholarship aid by 165 percent from 2011 to 2014.

If this isn’t enough to cause you to schedule a visit to Penn College, take a walk around campus and look at the companies who support the college. Their banners and company logos are scattered throughout campus. These companies promise to employ their graduates, and most students have job offers before graduation. I spoke to students in the automotive fields, welding, aviation, and health careers. Every one of the seniors I spoke with were looking forward to joining the workforce in a career that they love after graduation with secured jobs.

In the next few months I will be showcasing Penn College and their Degrees That Work. At the end of the series, this college will no longer be “the best kept secret” in college education.

Parenting for College

Category Archives: Penn College

What Are the Alternatives to Traditional College?