Pittsburgh Technical College To Close This Summer

PITTSBURGH, PA — Officials at Pittsburgh Technical College recently announced the school will close later this summer.

In a statement on its website, the college's board of trustees said Pittsburgh Technical College will cease instruction at the end of the spring quarter, effective Aug. 9. Officials cited declining enrollment, market pressures and inflation as reasons behind the closure.

"These external pressures, in addition to orchestrated attacks against the institution, have made it difficult for PTC to increase revenue generation and enrollment numbers to remain operational," the board said in a statement. "Despite continued efforts to raise revenues and address the school’s long-standing financial challenges, the nonprofit’s board determined that long-term fiscal stability was no longer possible."

Pittsburgh Technical College is the third Pennsylvania university slated to close. Cabrini University in Delaware County will close on June 30 and plans to lay off 363 people. The University of the Arts in Philadelphia closed earlier this month and laid off more than 700 people.

Pittsburgh Technical College filed a WARN notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry informing the state of the closure. The notice dated June 10 said there would be layoffs, but officials did not specify how many jobs would be lost.

Founded nearly eight decades ago, the school changed its name to Pittsburgh Technical College in 2016.

"We have worked tirelessly to identify a viable path forward and exhausted all options to try to avoid this outcome," the board said in its statement. "We considered multiple potential operating models, including mergers and partnerships, to avoid closure; however, despite our strategic, creative, and aggressive efforts, our results proved insufficient."

The board said it is working with currently enrolled students and has entered into teach-out agreements with multiple colleges so students can continue their degrees without interruption.