Grant Funding Continued for Dual-Enrollment Programs

Pennsylvania College of Technology has received continued grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for its dual-enrollment initiatives with area high schools.

Penn College, through its Outreach for K-12 Office, offers dual enrollment in three areas: information technology, electronics and plastics. Through the program, titled Penn College NOW, high school students can take Penn College courses in their own high schools. A student then earns grades and credit from both the college and the high school.

"These are workforce pipeline grants," said Jeannette F. Carter, director of Outreach for K-12. "The goal of them is to increase the supply of technologically skilled workers and to help school districts become partners to develop a pipeline of future professionals who will help meet Pennsylvania's economic needs."

The electronics dual-enrollment program, which is in its fifth year of a six-year grant cycle, received $80,000 for 2007-08. Fifty-four high school students enrolled in Penn College electronics classes in their high schools this fall.

The information technology dual-enrollment program, which is in the fourth year of a six-year grant, also received $80,000 for 2007-08. Eighty area high school students are enrolled in Penn College information technology courses at their high schools this year.

Students from Jersey Shore Area School District, Keystone Central School District, the Lycoming Career and Technology Center, Montgomery School District, Sullivan County School District, SUN Area Vocational Technical School and Williamsport Area School District are enrolled in the electronics and information technology dual-enrollment programs.

The Penn College NOW program in plastics courses is offered at Schuylkill Technology Centers. The college which is the subcontractor on the grant received $19,500 in funding to continue the program for 2007-08. The grant is in the third year of a six-year cycle.

Credits earned by a student taking Penn College courses at his or her local high school are transferable. To ensure the courses taught off of Penn College's campus maintain the rigor of those taught to the college's fully enrolled students, the college trains high school faculty members to use its curriculum and materials, and Penn College faculty grade the high school students' major tests and projects. High school students can take almost a full semester's worth of the college courses before graduating.

For more information about programs offered by Penn College for K-12 schools, visit online , e-mail or call (570) 320-8003.

For more information about grant-funding opportunities, faculty and staff may contact the Grants and Contracts Office at ext. 7562 or through its Web portal.