F
illing a major void in educational
opportunities in the Erie region,
Edinboro University announced a
visionary initiative to make workforceready degree and certificate programs
available at community college prices.
The initiative and a major gift that will
help launch it were unveiled by President
Julie E. Wollman at an event held at the
university’s Erie location, which has been
renamed Porreco College.
Beginning in fall 2014, the cost of fulltime attendance for students enrolled
in a Porreco College associate degree or
certificate program will be just $2,341 per
semester – true community college rates,
Wollman said.
The low cost is made possible by the
creation of a $3,000 per year scholarship
called the Porreco Promise.
The Porreco Promise will be funded
through private donations, the first
of which is a $1 million gift from Erie
businessman and civic leader Louis
Porreco and his wife, Debbie. The
couple’s gift will support the initial
semesters of the Porreco Promise and
provide the start of an endowment that
eventually will sustain the program.
In announcing the $1 million gift,
the Porreco Promise and plans for
further development of Porreco College,
Wollman also introduced the college’s
new identity as The Community’s
College.
“Porreco College, the Community’s
College, will provide the expanded, jobfocused associate degree and certificate
programs at a low cost that will enable
the broader community to affordably
address the critical issues of educational
attainment, workforce readiness and
breaking the poverty cycle,” she said.
She said calling Porreco College The
Community’s College is appropriate
because of the access and affordability
it offers students, its responsiveness to
employer needs in the development of
new programs, and the connection it will
forge with the community.
Erie County Executive Kathy
Dahlkemper, who participated in the
announcement, praised the Porreco
College initiatives.
“Educational attainment is an
economic development issue,” she
said. “It’s critical to boost educational
attainment so the emerging workforces in
Erie County are attractive to employers.
The Porreco College can make a
significant positive impact.”
P
orreco Promise scholarships will
be available to any student from
Erie County who is enrolled fulltime in a two-year associate degree or
certificate program offered at Porreco
College. Nathan Ritchey, Ph.D., dean of
Edinboro’s College of Science and Health
Professions, said the offerings this fall will
include five programs:
n Certificate in Customer Relations
Management
n Associate of Applied Science Degree
in Applied Technology
n Associate of Arts Degree in Human
Services – Social Services
n Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal
Studies
n Associate of Science Degree in
Business Administration
Additional programs are being
developed based on the Associate of
Continued on page 44
Millcreek | Summer 2014 | icmags.com 43