Erie County Technical School (ECTS) is a public high-school career and technical center: students in grades 10 to 12 from 11 sending school districts attend half-day programs there while staying enrolled at their home high school. ECTS has no adult or evening programs, so adults cannot enroll. The adult route is Erie County Community College (EC3), a separate public college that runs its EC3 Summit site inside the ECTS Skills Center at the same address, 8500 Oliver Road, and teaches welding and CNC machining there. The rest of this page covers EC3.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Public community college sponsored by Erie County; campus-based, with most IT courses online |
| Locations | 4, all in Erie County, Pennsylvania: Erie West (main), EC3 Summit in the ECTS Skills Center, the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) in Erie, and Corry |
| Credentials | Certificates and associate degrees (AAS, AAB, AA): 8 degrees and 11 career certificates, per EC3 |
| Typical length | 8 weeks (Nurse Aide) to about 2 years (associate degrees) |
| Accreditation | Not yet accredited; candidate for accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education since 21 November 2024 |
| Federal aid | Yes, since June 2026: Pell Grants, FSEOG and Federal Work-Study; no federal Direct Loans |
| 2026-27 tuition and fees | $185 a credit for Erie County residents, $350 for other Pennsylvania residents, $515 out of state |
| Students | More than 800 (spring 2026, per EC3) |
| Founded | Approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education on 8 July 2020; first classes fall 2021 |
| ECTS | High-school career center only (grades 10-12, 11 sending districts); no adult programs |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
Erie County Community College: the adult route from ECTS
EC3 is Erie County’s public community college. The Pennsylvania State Board of Education approved it in July 2020, and it opened in fall 2021 in rented classrooms. Its main campus, Erie West, is on West 8th Street; it also teaches at EC3 Summit in the ECTS building, at the Youth Leadership Institute in Erie and in Corry. For trade and health training it offers welding and CNC certificates, industrial maintenance and mechatronics certificates, an Industrial Technology degree, a new practical nursing program, nurse aide and patient care technician training and mostly online IT programs. EC3 had more than 800 students in spring 2026, and 135 students graduated in 2025 (91 associate degrees and 44 certificates). Erie County residents attended tuition-free until spring 2026.
EC3’s trade, health and IT programs
EC3 lists 8 associate degrees and 11 career certificates. Most courses run in 8-week or 4-week blocks within a term. The table shows the career programs; “site not confirmed” means EC3’s course schedules did not show where the program meets, so ask the college. EC3 also offers Criminal Justice, Corrections, Behavioral Health Services, business management and a General Studies transfer degree.
| Program | Credential | Length and schedule | Where | Prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welding | Certificate, 24 credits | About 1 year; afternoon and evening labs | EC3 Summit (ECTS Skills Center) | Welding to AWS standards; no AWS certification test named |
| CNC Operator/Programmer | Certificate, 24 credits | As little as 3 semesters; evenings | EC3 Summit (ECTS machining lab) | No NIMS or other credential named |
| Industrial Maintenance & Mechatronics | Certificate, 32 credits; Electrical and Mechanical short certificates, 16 credits each | Short certificates one year or less | Site not confirmed | No industry credential named |
| Industrial Technology | AAS, 61 credits | About 2 years | EC3 Summit and Erie West | Needs a Welding, CNC or Industrial Maintenance certificate inside it |
| Practical Nursing (LPN) | Certificate, 43 credits | 12 months, four terms; 22 seats; first cohort August 2026 | Erie West | NCLEX-PN; State Board of Nursing initial approval |
| Nurse Aide Training (NATCEP) | Certificate, 7 credits | 8 weeks, 150 hours including 54 clinical hours | Site not confirmed | NNAAP nurse aide exam (first attempt covered by course fees) |
| Patient Care Technician | Certificate, 13 credits | Evening classes | Erie West | NHA patient care technician (CPCT), phlebotomy and ECG exams |
| Surgical Technology | AAS, 69 credits | 2 years (5 semesters) | With the UPMC School of Surgical Technology (UPMC Hamot) and Erie West | No programmatic accreditation or CST exam mentioned by EC3 |
| IT: Network Systems | AAS, 60 credits | – | Mostly online | No CompTIA or Cisco exam named |
| IT Programming; IT Infrastructure Management; IT Technical Support Professional | Certificates, 18 credits each | – | Mostly online | – |
What the main programs cover
Welding
The certificate covers stick (SMAW), MIG (GMAW), flux-cored (FCAW) and TIG (GTAW) welding, with separate theory courses and labs on steel, aluminium and some stainless steel, plus technical math (MAT 107) and Print Reading for Welders (WEL 114). Theory meets in a classroom and labs in the welding shop of the ECTS Skills Center. Day sections run from noon to 4 pm, and the spring 2026 schedule added 5 to 9 pm evening sections. Students weld to American Welding Society standards, but EC3 does not name an AWS certification test. The credits count toward the Industrial Technology AAS.
CNC Operator/Programmer
The certificate is eight 3-credit courses: CNC Operator I and II, Print Reading, four CNC programming courses and technical math. Students program with Mastercam and use AutoCAD, and the hands-on courses meet in the ECTS machining lab at 8500 Oliver Road. Classes run in the evening, 5:30 to 9 pm, and EC3 has said the certificate can be finished in as little as three semesters. Local manufacturers have enrolled their own employees. The program names no NIMS or other industry certification.
Practical Nursing
The 12-month program runs over four terms and combines classroom teaching, a simulation lab and supervised clinical placements at local health-care facilities, which EC3 does not name. It prepares graduates for the NCLEX-PN licensing exam. The program has 22 seats per cohort. Applicants attend an information session, score at least 58.7% on the ATI TEAS, meet EdReady placement scores (reading 90, math 55, writing 60), hold a GPA of 2.7 or higher, and complete a physical, TB test, titers and background checks. The application deadline is 15 July.
Industrial Maintenance & Mechatronics
The 32-credit certificate trains technicians to keep factory equipment running. Two 16-credit short certificates split the subject: Electrical, which covers programmable logic controllers on Allen-Bradley SLC500 hardware and industrial controls, and Mechanical, which covers drives and mechanical systems. Each short certificate takes one year or less. This is industrial maintenance, not electrician training, and EC3 names no industry credential. The certificate can be combined with general education and electives into the 61-credit Industrial Technology AAS, which also requires Print Reading (CNC 114). EC3’s schedules did not show where these labs meet.
Information technology
The IT: Network Systems AAS (60 credits) covers LAN and WAN networking, WiFi, server administration, cloud services and network security. The 18-credit IT Programming certificate teaches C#, Python, Java, HTML/CSS and JavaScript, and IT Infrastructure Management and IT Technical Support Professional certificates were added in 2025. In the fall 2026 schedule nearly every IT major course ran online; only the introductory CIS 100 and CIS 110 computer courses met in person, at Erie West, YLI and Corry. EC3 names no CompTIA or Cisco exam for these programs.
Cost and paying for it
For 2026-27, tuition plus fees (college and technology fees, and a capital fee outside Erie County) comes to $185 a credit for Erie County residents, $350 for other Pennsylvania residents and $515 for out-of-state students. New students also pay a one-time $40 registration fee, and many courses carry their own fees: EC3’s 2026-27 course-fee list puts welding labs and theory at about $220 to $240 each, most CNC courses at $140 each and most industrial maintenance courses at $45 each, and Practical Nursing has additional program fees. Card payments carry a 2.95% fee, and payment plans are available.
Erie County residents used to attend tuition-free, paid for with federal COVID-relief money. That ended in spring 2026, when students began paying one-third of the cost of their education, according to Erie News Now.
EC3 was approved for federal student aid in June 2026: Pell Grants, FSEOG and Federal Work-Study (school code 043180). Its 2026-27 financial aid manual says EC3 does not offer federal Direct Loans. Other help includes PHEAA state aid, WIOA workforce funding, EC3 Foundation scholarships (amounts not published) and private loans. ECTS itself is free for eligible high-school students from its sending districts.
Admissions and schedule
Most EC3 programs have open admission: apply online and take EdReady placement. Practical Nursing and Surgical Technology have selective admission. Terms are split into 8-week blocks (in fall 2026, 17 August to 9 October and 12 October to 4 December) and shorter 4-week lab blocks. At the ECTS Skills Center, adult trade classes meet in the afternoon (noon to 4 pm) and evening (5 to 9 pm, or 5:30 to 9 pm for CNC), because the high school uses the building during the day.
Accreditation and results
EC3 is not yet accredited. It became a candidate for accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) on 21 November 2024, and its self-study evaluation is due in 2026-27. The college said in March 2026 that it expects accreditation in a little over a year, backdated to November 2024; that is EC3’s expectation, not an MSCHE decision. The Pennsylvania State Board of Education approved EC3 as a community college, which is state approval, not accreditation. None of EC3’s program pages that we read claims programmatic accreditation.
Practical Nursing has initial approval from the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing. The first cohort of 22 started in August 2026, so no NCLEX-PN results exist yet. We found no published graduation, job-placement or licensure pass rates that we could read: EC3’s key performance indicators page shows its figures only as images, and we found no federal College Scorecard entry for the college.
Before you enroll
- ECTS’s 21 career programs, from cosmetology to automotive technology, are for high-school students only. Adults can take only what EC3 offers, and EC3 has no HVAC, CDL, automotive, cosmetology, culinary or electrician program.
- EC3 is a candidate for Middle States accreditation, not an accredited college. Its next step is a self-study evaluation in 2026-27; ask any college you may transfer to how it treats EC3 credits.
- Federal aid covers Pell Grants, FSEOG and Work-Study only. EC3 does not offer federal Direct Loans.
- Practical Nursing is brand new: the first 22 students started in August 2026, it holds initial (not full) Board of Nursing approval, and no NCLEX-PN pass rates exist yet.
- The welding certificate teaches to AWS standards, but neither it nor the CNC certificate names an AWS, NIMS or other certification test, so ask what credential, if any, you will leave with.
Where EC3 teaches
| Site | Address | What is taught there |
|---|---|---|
| Erie West (main campus) | 2403 West 8th Street, Erie, PA 16505 | Practical Nursing, Patient Care Technician lab, general education, business, criminal justice, in-person computer courses; Learning Center |
| EC3 Summit (inside the ECTS Skills Center) | 8500 Oliver Road, Erie, PA 16509 | All welding courses; CNC Operator/Programmer in the ECTS machining lab; ECTS dual-credit welding for high-school students |
| Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) | 1306 E Lake Rd, Erie, PA 16507 | General education and in-person CIS 100/110 sections |
| EC3 Corry | 221 North Center Street, Corry, PA 16407 | Occasional courses, such as CIS 100 |
Surgical Technology students train with the UPMC School of Surgical Technology at UPMC Hamot, and nursing students go to clinical placements; these are partner sites, not EC3 campuses. EC3 is a commuter college with no student housing.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Applied Technology (EC3)
- Welding (certificate)
- CNC Operator/Programmer (certificate)
- Industrial Maintenance & Mechatronics (certificate)
- Industrial Maintenance & Mechatronics: Electrical (short certificate)
- Industrial Maintenance & Mechatronics: Mechanical (short certificate)
- Industrial Technology (AAS)
Health Sciences (EC3)
- Practical Nursing (LPN; first cohort August 2026)
- Nurse Aide Training (NATCEP)
- Patient Care Technician
- Surgical Technology (AAS, with the UPMC School of Surgical Technology)
- Behavioral Health Services (AAS)
Information Technology (EC3, mostly online)
- IT: Network Systems (AAS)
- IT: Software Development (AAS)
- IT Programming (certificate)
- IT Infrastructure Management (certificate)
- IT Technical Support Professional (certificate)
- Mobile App Development (certificate)
Public Service (EC3)
- Criminal Justice (AAS)
- Corrections (certificate)
Business (EC3)
- Management and Entrepreneurial Thinking (AAB)
Transfer (EC3)
- General Studies (AA)
Campus Locations
Erie, PA 2403 West 8th Street, Erie, PA 16505
Erie, PA 8500 Oliver Road, Erie, PA 16509
Erie, PA 1306 E Lake Rd, Erie, PA 16507
Corry, PA 221 North Center Street, Corry, PA 16407