Lackawanna College is expanding around the state with the addition of three satellite centers in the Lehigh Valley, southern and western Pennsylvania.
Officials at the Scranton-based college announced Tuesday they received approval from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to open the centers in Bethlehem, Chambersburg and Greensburg.
The new locations will offer an associate degree program in welding and fabrication technology. The Bethlehem location, which will be located near the Lehigh Valley International Airport, will also offer associate degree programs in carpentry and construction technology, as well as electrical technology. The location in Greensburg is scheduled to launch an electrical technology program in fall 2026. Certificate and additional degree programs, such as HVAC, are planned at each location in the future.
The Bethlehem location, which will serve students in the greater Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas, includes 42,000 square feet of classroom, laboratory and office space, according to the college’s website.
The Chambersburg center, located in the Cumberland Valley Business Park near the Letterkenny Army Depot, will include approximately 11,000 square feet of classroom, laboratory and office space and serve students in Franklin and surrounding counties.
The Greensburg Center will have about 6,000 square feet of classroom and laboratory space, serving students in Westmoreland County and neighboring counties.
The new locations strengthen the college’s technical education and manufacturing programs while expanding its geographic presence into southern and western Pennsylvania, college officials said.
“There is increasing need across Pennsylvania for highly skilled workers in key trades, including welding, electrical, construction and carpentry. With the addition of these three satellite centers, we are establishing a strong pipeline of skilled workers right in the communities we serve,” college President and Chief Innovation Officer Jill Murray said in a statement. “Today’s students deserve more pathways to successful careers in their hometowns. At Lackawanna, we’re focused on expanding and investing in programs that enable Pennsylvanians to learn, work and make an impact right in their communities.”
She said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon the college had been looking for opportunities to create trade-based centers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the three sites became available in late spring. College officials met with chambers of commerce, other educational institutions, economic development organizations, businesses and industries in the areas the new centers will be located during that time.
“They were all very receptive to, and asked us to set up shop there,” Murray said. “They all contributed mightily with information and some resources.”
Lackawanna College’s board of trustees approved the new centers in June. The college signed lease agreements on all three locations, with the option to purchase them, which she said is something for the college to consider.
The new locations are Lackawanna College’s first outside northeastern and central Pennsylvania. The college currently operates centers in Hazleton, Hawley, Sunbury, Towanda and Tunkhannock, which houses the college’s School of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The college also operates an environmental education center in Covington Twp. and plans to build a two-story building in the 500 block of Wyoming Avenue in Scranton as the college’s new Center for Technology Innovation. The center is expected to be completed in late spring 2026, Murray said, with students enrolling in the fall of that year.
Murray said the new centers fill a need for trade occupations while benefitting the community. They are part of an aggressive expansion plan the college has underway. She said with the enrollment cliff underway, the college needs to think of new ways to keep itself going.
“To be one dimensional in just having 18 to 22-year olds as our focus was not gonna be the only way to grow and sustain our college,” Murray said. “We knew that (skilled trades) was another kind of adjacent industry within higher ed. We’ve been looking for over five years to expand into this particular niche.”
The announcement of the new centers was made as the college completed a merger with Peirce College of Philadelphia. The merger, which took effect over the summer, created the largest private, nonprofit open-enrollment college in the state. Peirce, which operates remotely online with a focus on “workforce ready” programs and certificates for adults, will take Lackawanna College’s name next summer.
The college will hold ribbon cutting ceremonies at the locations, which are currently enrolling students, in the fall. Classes are slated to start in the spring, pending approval from the U.S. Department of Education.
