The Pennsylvania College of Technology

Quality of education is not easy to measure unless you attend another school. However, consider the following…

When I visited PCT, I was dazzled by their nice looking campus, their helpful tour guides and apparent abundance of student life/activities. It seemed sort of like Club Med when compared to where my HS friends were going. As a student, it did not take me long to realize that this school was run very much like a small corporation. In a word; PROFIT.

The student bookstore, meal plans, dorms, school image, parking, police, policies and most other things are all geared toward generating as much money as possible. If you are looking at PCT, pay attention to some of the other schools and their websites. You will be hard pressed to find a school that shouts louder or farther then Penn Tech.

The problem IS NOT all of the big advertising, polished facilities, Vic house, new dorms or super dining units. It is the tuition bill you pay and how much (proportionately) finds its way back into your major and YOUR college education. I guess you could call it the tuition to quality of education ratio. A hard thing for a new student to actually care about but what the hell would I know.

When I was in my 2nd year, we were all forced to buy laptops because the school decided to shut down one of the computer labs for our major. They turned the lab into another class (profit) and pointed us to where we could buy a $1500 laptop through the bookstore (profit). I did not use the computer for one class related assignment. Poor educational planning and clearly profit driven.

When I was looking to live somewhere my last year, I learned that they were packing 6 in a dorm and 3 in a bedroom. All freshmen were FORCED TO LIVE ON CAMPUS and also purchase one of the schools outrageous meal plans. The room for the semester was packed with 5 other sweaty guys and went for over twice the price of my own place off campus. The meal plan broke down to $7 a meal at 3X a day and 7X a week. It basically equaled 5X more expensive than cooking for myself. Do the math.

I experienced a general sense of non-compassion for the students on campus. When it came time to schedule, I always had problems finding a seat in classes. Most PCT students going for a 4 year degree end up staying for 4.5-5 years. This is fact; speak to someone in admissions. They would not open a new section of a class in my program even after heavy petitioning if it was not profitable to do so. Besides, why would they care when they can get to see you for a bonus round of room, board and other assorted profit.

The book store for the college is a perfect example of their most basic profit strategies. The markup for the books were outrageous. They were also very anal about you looking at their ISBN numbers (addall.com!!!) so you could save money online. I once tried to buy a used book and they gave me one with a damaged cover instead because they had a crappier one in inventory. Their buyback programs were so despicable. Foolish students would bring their $90 books back for $10.

That said, I guess it was an OK ride. Given the chance, however, I may have attended another school. The campus seemed like a barren wasteland on the weekends because everyone went home. Very boring. The vast majority of students on campus were also guys and it was depressing if you weren't into that sort of thing. I found that a lot of girls and gay men were attracted to the school for just that reason.

In essence, I felt that PCT was a mediocre book with a flashy cover. Your tastes will vary but talk to a friend or someone on facebook that attends the school and ask them what they think. My review was overwhelmingly critical but the facts speak for themselves. Something to consider.