BELLEFONTE — Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, which announced in December 2023 that it plans to establish a community college in Bellefonte this year, shared on Thursday, April 18, that it signed an articulation agreement with the State College Area School District.
In December of last year, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College announced it had signed three articulation agreements with the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science & Technology in Pleasant Gap. The associate degrees covered by the articulation agreement with CPI include early childhood education, IT network administration and entrepreneurship.
This newest agreement allows State College Area High School students to transfer their education credits into the Penn Highlands Community College early childhood education program, according to a press release from Penn Highlands.
State High’s Career and Technical Center offers multiple programs, including culinary arts, family and consumer science, automotive technology and more. The early childhood education program focuses on basic child development and has an interactive “The Little Lions’ Playroom,” where students participate in a supervised preschool experience.
A maximum of six classes or 16 credits can be transferred towards the Penn Highlands degree, including:
- ECE 101 Introduction to Early Childhood Education
- ECE 105 Education Essentials
- ECE 110 Child Development
- ECE 198 Early Childhood Practicum
- ECE 298 Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood
- EDU 230 Children with Special Needs
Students must complete the full early childhood education program at State College High School, earning a C letter grade or better to be eligible to transfer, according the press release.
“We are looking forward to future expansion of this partnership to enable even more students to earn advanced standing in our associate degree programs,” Michelle Stumpf, Penn Highlands dean of enrollment services and registrar, shared in the release.
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Centre County is set to start classes this fall.
