While the tried and true bastions of research, innovation and excellence, like the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University and Penn State University continued to diversify their interests, impact and integration into the Commonwealth’s communities that support them, a number of small institutions throughout the state are giving it a much more robust feel.
Building bridges to the business community was the common theme. Examples of increased technology transfer and commercialization efforts abound, like the Millersville University Software Productization Center, which graduated its first company, Cruzstar, this fall. Pennsylvania College of Technology asserted itself in the Marcellus Shale play with its new Education and Training Center.
Preparing grads for a different kind of job hunt became a priority for several schools. In May, East Stroudsburg University topped off its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship , the first phase of the school’s Research and Industrial Park, and will open an Entrepreneurial Leadership Center thanks in part to a state grant. Lehigh University single-handedly saved its former Governor’s School for Global Entrepreneurship and will welcome its next class next summer. Also, the Shippensburg University Entrepreneurial Learning Center launched in the fall with the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour.
Northeast PA, home to more than a dozen colleges, saw a new medical school open in The Commonwealth Medical College, and plans laid for a new law school at Wilkes University. In Central PA, Harrisburg University continues to create opportunities and partnerships that are shaping the city’s downtown renaissance as a science and technology hub.
Look for many of these schools’ new programs to pick up steam in the coming year, while schools like Penn and the University of Pittsburgh will play even larger roles in developing the communities they call home. With enrollments expected to increase across the board, the opportunities these institutions create are likely to put a stop in the old brain drain conundrum.
Source: Keystone Edge
Writer: Joe Petrucci