PENNSYLVANIA — High school students across Pennsylvania will be able to earn college credit at no cost to their schools this year, thanks to a $150,000 gift from Devon Energy Corp. to Pennsylvania College of Technology.
The two-year commitment, made through the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program, covers the participation fees for the nearly 70 Pennsylvania high schools and career and technology centers that offer Penn College Dual Enrollment courses. Those courses let qualified high school students take college-level classes, most of them technical, while still working toward a diploma.
The gift continues a decade of support from Devon for career and technical education in the Commonwealth.
Penn College Dual Enrollment works with schools across Pennsylvania, allowing more than 2,500 high school students to earn nearly 8,600 Penn College credits each year. Because most of the coursework is technical, the program doubles as a pipeline for the skilled technicians and technologists that Pennsylvania employers say they cannot hire fast enough.
Across the state, that pipeline runs through local high schools and career and technology centers. Students can begin earning college credit in the trades they are already training for, without leaving their home county or paying tuition.
In Pennsylvania’s northern tier, that includes centers like the Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center in Springville and the Northern Tier Career Center in Towanda, where students train within a few miles of home.
“Our goal is to place students in the best possible position for long-term success, and we are incredibly grateful for Devon’s generous commitment and partnership to help us do just that,” Reed said.
He said dual enrollment gives students a chance to accelerate degree completion while saving thousands of dollars, and to begin developing the technical and durable skills, including problem solving, communication and business strategies, that are needed in tomorrow’s workforce.
For Devon, the renewal reflects results the company says it can see in the students who come through the program.
“We have grown this commitment steadily and renewed it again because Penn College delivers, and we can see the results in the students who come through it,” desRosiers said. “Dual enrollment reaches students early and builds the confidence they need to be successful in college. That confidence opens doors that were not open to them before. This is not just about funding a project and feeling good about it. Supporting dual enrollment makes a profound difference in these students’ lives and, ultimately, in the workforce of Pennsylvania and beyond.”
The gift covers the full demand the program sees today, desRosiers said, and Devon has some additional EITC funding set aside if the program continues to expand.
“Every district and career and technology center in the program is covered, and there is funding available for more,” he said. “We would like to see this reach schools and students who are not part of it yet. If a district or a career and technology center anywhere in Pennsylvania wants in, the funding is there.”
The Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and allows businesses to direct a portion of their state tax liability to approved educational organizations. The Penn College Foundation is approved as an Educational Improvement Organization under the program.
Beyond Pennsylvania College of Technology, Devon also covers dual enrollment costs at the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
Pennsylvania College of Technology is a national leader in applied technology education. For information, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222. Those wishing to explore giving opportunities at Penn College can call 570-320-8020.
