2024-2025 Catalog

Mission Statement

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College offers an inclusive, supportive, and affordable environment that empowers students to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in work, life, and the pursuit of lifelong learning.

Core Values

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College strives to be a community of learners where every student, employee, and community member is respected and supported. The College is deeply committed to the following values: 

• Student Success - creating a student-centered environment where individuals are challenged, encouraged, and supported to achieve their educational, professional, and personal goals as well as develop a spirit of intellectual curiosity and a commitment to lifelong learning.
• Quality and Accountability - establishing performance standards throughout the institution, developing measures to document effectiveness along with a commitment to continuous improvement in pursuit of excellence.
• Integrity and Ethics - holding each member of the organization to high professional and personal standards. 
• Collaboration and Collegiality - informing and involving members of the College community in discussion and problem solving at all levels in an atmosphere marked by civility and cordiality conducted with respect for personal and professional differences remembering the value of humor and humility as well. 
• Responsiveness to Diverse and Changing Community Needs - creating a positive culture that safeguards equity, inclusion, dignity, and respect for all while developing innovative and creative responses to the region’s dynamic economic, workforce and social needs based on interactions with all segments of the community.  

  We respect and seek out inclusion of differences, realizing we can learn from others as partners in our community.   

Vision

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College will be a premier institution of higher education and a driving force in regional growth, positioning students to be recognized as highly competent and exceptional members of the community and workforce.

Accreditation

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-662-5606). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency, which is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation.

Registration is the process of selecting courses and completing the necessary processes to have to see selections entered into the College record. Payment for all related charges must be made by the tuition due date specified for the semester in order to confirm registration. Students may register either in person, through the myPEAK portal, or through mailing or faxing a Registration Form to the Registrar's Office. Please contact the Registrar's Office for assistance in the registration process.

Dates for registration periods are listed in the Academic Calendar.

The Student Financial Services Department is made up of the Financial Aid Office and the Student Accounts Office. We are here to help you navigate your financial needs in one place to get all of the information you need to pay for your educational experience.

The Financial Aid Office realizes that many students do not have the means to pay for higher education. Penn Highlands participates in financial aid assistance programs that ensure access to and success in higher education for all students. Those programs include the following:

• Grants
• Scholarships
• Federal Work-Study
• Loans

Students are considered for financial aid eligibility based on federal, state, and institutional guidelines. The Financial Aid Office is here to assist you through the application process. Students and parents may also contact us by email or phone at sfs@pennhighlands.edu or 814.262.6454.

The Student Success Center, located in Richland, offers a range of support services to all Penn Highlands Centers, both virtually and in-person, focused on helping students have a positive and successful college experience. Services include academic advising; transfer and career planning; personal counseling; support for students receiving SNAP or TANF benefits; support for students with disabilities; makeup testing; and free tutorial assistance. In addition, the Student Success Center facilitates the College's placement testing and new student advising processes. These services are available without charge to students enrolled in credit classes. Students may contact the Student Success Center via email, phone, text, or Zoom to discuss appropriate services.

Workforce development and education is a vehicle to enhance the skills of workers and potential workers, in order to retain current employers and attract new employers to the area. Pennsylvania Highlands recognizes that improving the quality of life depends upon economic development. Contingent on advancing economically is having a qualified and skilled workforce. Consequently, the College provides a comprehensive assessment of employer/employee needs for training by developing and offering customized programs according to assessed needs, for private businesses, industries, and other agencies in the communities we serve.

Workforce Education Goals

• To provide comprehensive assessment services to firms within the region.
• To enhance the current skills of employees.
• To provide the necessary training to improve the skill transferability of displaced workers and workers with disabilities.
• To act as a catalyst to attract business/industry to the area because of our ability to train the needed talent pool.
• To act as an in-house consulting agent for the development of degree-granting and certification programs.
• To provide certification programs in occupations that meet specific business and industry skill requirements.
• To provide customized training to meet the needs of its customer.

The mission of the Pennsylvania Highlands Continuing Education Department is to identify education and training needs and to develop concepts, strategies, and delivery systems that offer effective and meaningful workforce, professional development, and leisure learning opportunities for Southern Allegheny employers and residents.

The Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Police Academy provides high-quality education and training for the initial certification process of becoming a police officer in the state of Pennsylvania. The Police Academy is approved by the Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) to offer Act 120 training, a 919-hour program that qualifies graduates to be municipal police officers in the state of Pennsylvania. This program consists of 498 hours of classroom instruction and 421 hours of practical hands-on training including firearms, defensive driving, defensive and control tactics, and physical fitness. The Police Academy is located at the Richland Campus in Johnstown, PA.

The Police Academy is a part-time academy offering classes four nights per week with approximately ten full weekends for an eleven month period. Once a cadet graduates and earns a Certificate of Completion, they are eligible to take a state test. Upon passing this test, graduates are eligible to seek employment as a police officer in one of the 1,207 police departments in Pennsylvania.

The Police Academy is a “clock-hour” program and is eligible for Federal Financial Aid. Upon graduation from the police academy, graduates will also receive an 18-college credit Certificate in Criminal Justice.  These credits reflect credit for the following classes: 

• CRJ 110: Introduction to Criminal Justice
• CRJ 120: Report Writing and Interviewing
• CRJ 175: Constitutional Law
• CRJ 215: Criminal Law and Procedure
• CRJ 235: Criminal Investigation and Policing
• CRJ 295: Criminal Justice Internship

These credits can be applied toward a 61-credit Associates of Applied Science Degree in Criminal Justice.