| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Campus-based career schools, plus hybrid-online programs open to students in every state except California |
| Campuses | 5 in 3 states: Uniontown, Export (Pittsburgh area) and Hermitage, PA, as Laurel Technical Institute; Morgantown, WV and Fort Mill, SC, as Laurel College of Technology |
| Credentials | Diplomas, specialized associate degrees (AST/ASB), associate degrees in West Virginia, and a BSN announced in 2026 |
| Program length | 4 months (nail technician, day) to 20 months; 30 months for the on-campus ADN-plus-BSN pathway |
| Accreditation | ACCSC at every campus; ACEN for Morgantown nursing; CoARC for respiratory therapy at Uniontown and Hermitage (CoARC placed Hermitage on probation in December 2025); Fort Mill seeking provisional accreditation |
| Federal aid | Yes (Title IV); the nail technician course is not aid-eligible |
| Students | 518 at the Uniontown institution and its branches, 163 at Hermitage (IPEDS, fall 2024); about 750 to 800 across all sites (March 2025) |
| Founded / owner | 1985 in Uniontown; owned by Laurel Business Institute, Inc., a privately held, family-owned Pennsylvania company |
| Phone | 855-552-8735 (all campuses) |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
One owner, two school names, five campuses
Laurel Institutes is the shared name for career schools owned by Laurel Business Institute, Inc., a privately held, family-owned Pennsylvania company. It began in Uniontown in 1985 as Laurel Business Institute; that school became Laurel Technical Institute on 10 April 2025. The Hermitage school, whose roots go back to a 1926 business college, joined in 2007 and is a separate institution. The West Virginia and South Carolina campuses trade as Laurel College of Technology and are branches of the Uniontown institution; Fort Mill used the name Laurel Institute of Technology until 2025–26.
Laurel is mainly a health-care and skilled-trades school: practical nursing at four campuses, registered nursing in Morgantown, respiratory therapy, cardiovascular technology, electrical, HVAC and welding, plus beauty and one culinary program. Export opened in 2025, paramedic and Fort Mill respiratory therapy start in October 2026, and Fort Mill bought a much larger building in August 2026.
Programs at Laurel’s five campuses and online
Totals are from Laurel’s Fall 2026 program cost sheet and include tuition, mandatory fees, books, kits and exam fees. “Specialized associate” is the Pennsylvania term for Laurel’s AST and ASB degrees. A dash means we could not read a reliable figure from the cost sheet.
| Program | Credential and length | Delivery | Where | Prepares for | Fall 2026 total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing (ADN) | Associate, 20 months, 71 credits | Campus | Morgantown, WV | NCLEX-RN; ACEN | $43,078 |
| LPN/Paramedic to ADN | Associate, 16 months | Campus, or hybrid with monthly weekend labs in Morgantown | Morgantown, WV | NCLEX-RN; ACEN (campus version) | – |
| ADN to BSN | BSN, 10 months (or 30-month ADN-plus-BSN pathway) | Online, or campus | Online; Morgantown, WV | Needs an active RN license | $13,137 online; $55,592 pathway |
| Practical Nursing | Diploma, 12 months | Campus | Uniontown, Export, Hermitage, PA; Fort Mill, SC | NCLEX-PN | $25,586 (Uniontown, Hermitage); $26,479 (Fort Mill) |
| Respiratory Therapy | Specialized associate, 20 months | Campus | Uniontown, Hermitage, PA; Fort Mill, SC (from Oct 2026) | NBRC TMC and CSE (CRT, RRT); CoARC | $48,409 (Uniontown, Fort Mill); $48,425 (Hermitage) |
| Cardiovascular Technology | Specialized associate (PA, WV) or diploma (SC), 20 months per program page | Campus | Hermitage, PA; Morgantown, WV; Fort Mill, SC | CCI RCS, CCT, CRAT | $36,090 (degree); $35,709 (Fort Mill diploma) |
| Paramedic | Diploma, 12 months | Campus | Uniontown, Export, PA (first class Oct 2026) | NREMT paramedic | $15,210 (Uniontown) |
| Clinical Medical Assistant | Diploma, 12 months | Hybrid online, with campus lab days | Online (not California) | NCCT CMA, phlebotomy, EKG | $16,116 |
| Medical Billing & Coding | Specialized associate, 20 months | Online | Online (not California) | Certifications not named | $26,038 |
| Medical Laboratory Technician | Associate, 20 months | Online plus clinical internship | Online (not California) | ASCP MLT | – |
| Electrical Technician | Specialized associate, 16 months | Campus | Uniontown, Export, Hermitage, PA; Morgantown, WV | OSHA 10, IPC, Carrier University | $32,610 |
| Electrical Systems Technician | Diploma, 12 months | Campus, day or night | Fort Mill, SC | NCCER, NFPA low voltage, OSHA 10 | $18,136 |
| HVAC Systems Technician | Diploma, 12 months | Campus | Uniontown, Export, PA | EPA 608, NCCER, Carrier University | $24,086 |
| HVAC Technician | Specialized associate, 20 months | Campus | Morgantown, WV | EPA 608, NCCER, Carrier University | $35,419 |
| Welding & Fabrication with Pipeline Technology | Diploma, 12 months | Campus | Uniontown, Hermitage, PA | AWS D1.1, ASME Section IX, OSHA 10 | $24,870 |
| Computer Network Security Technician | Specialized associate, 20 months | Campus | Hermitage, PA | CompTIA Security+ | $36,715 |
| Cloud Computing Technology | Specialized associate, 20 months | Online | Online (not California) | CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Cloud+, Server+, Project+ | $26,042 |
| Accounting & Business Administration | Specialized associate in business, 20 months | Online | Online (not California) | QuickBooks, Microsoft Office | $23,806 |
| Cosmetology | Diploma; 1,250 hours, 12 months (PA) or 1,800 hours, 14 months (WV) | Campus | Uniontown, Hermitage, PA; Morgantown, WV | State board license | $23,168 (PA); $26,256 (WV) |
| Esthetics/Nail Technician | Diploma, 8 months | Campus | Uniontown, Hermitage, PA | PA esthetics and nail licenses | $12,755 |
| Esthetics | Diploma, 600 hours, 8 months, evenings | Campus | Morgantown, WV | WV esthetics license | $13,479 |
| Hair Styling | Diploma, 1,000 hours, 8 months | Campus | Morgantown, WV | WV board license | $15,693 |
| Nail Technician | 400 hours: 4 months day or 8 months evening | Campus | Uniontown, PA; Morgantown, WV | State nail license | – |
| Master Teacher of Cosmetology | Diploma, 8 months | Campus | Uniontown, Hermitage, PA | PA cosmetology teacher license | – |
| Culinary Arts | Specialized associate, 16 months | Campus | Hermitage, PA | ServSafe | $30,450 |
Laurel’s program pages show the same “300 hours in skills lab + 500 hours via internship” banner on programs of very different lengths, so ask for the actual hours of the program you want. Laurel’s current program list does not include early childhood education, medical office administration or massage therapy (Morgantown taught massage in 2022).
What the main programs cover
Registered nursing in Morgantown
The associate degree in nursing runs five semesters and 71 credits, with 740 hours of clinical placements, and new cohorts begin in January, May and September. Applicants first need an EDU-Ready score of 85, then an interview. LPNs and paramedics can instead take a four-semester bridge with 800 clinical hours, scheduled either as two full days plus a clinical day or as three evenings plus a clinical day. The hybrid bridge replaces most class time with online study and brings students to Morgantown one weekend a month for labs and clinicals.
Practical nursing
The practical nursing diploma combines 300 hours in the skills lab with 670 clinical hours over 12 months. Applicants must be at least 18, have a 2.0 GPA and score 20 or more on the Wonderlic SLE, or take the ATI TEAS instead. Uniontown’s program is the established one; Export runs as its secondary site from September 2025, while Hermitage and Fort Mill are newer programs on initial board approval. Fort Mill pinned its first two graduates on 25 June 2026.
Respiratory therapy
Respiratory therapy is a 20-month specialized associate degree with 700 clinical hours, taught at Uniontown and Hermitage and, from October 2026, at Fort Mill. It prepares students for the NBRC’s Therapist Multiple-Choice exam and Clinical Simulation Exam, which lead to the CRT and RRT credentials. CoARC status and completion rates differ sharply by campus; see the results table and Accreditor actions below.
Cardiovascular technology
This program trains students in echocardiography, EKG, Holter monitoring and stress testing, with 800 clinical hours, and prepares them for Cardiovascular Credentialing International’s RCS, CCT and CRAT credentials. Program length is unclear: the program page says 20 months, Hermitage’s outcomes report says 16, and Fort Mill opened in 2023 with a 16-month diploma. It is a degree in Pennsylvania and West Virginia but a diploma in South Carolina.
Welding and fabrication
The welding diploma covers plate and pipe work over 12 months at Uniontown and Hermitage. Students prepare for AWS D1.1 Unlimited 3G tests in shielded metal arc and flux-cored welding, ASME Section IX 6G pipe tests in GTAW and GMAW, and OSHA 10 safety training, and the toolkit issued in the program is theirs to keep. Laurel teaches welding only in Pennsylvania.
Cosmetology and esthetics
Hours follow each state’s board rules, so the same program takes 1,250 hours in Pennsylvania and 1,800 in West Virginia, where students must hold a board permit before their first class. Students train on Redken products. Pennsylvania campuses pair esthetics with nails in one 8-month diploma; Morgantown teaches esthetics alone as a 600-hour evening program and adds a 1,000-hour hair styling diploma. Uniontown and Hermitage also train cosmetology teachers through an 8-month master teacher program.
Cost and paying for it
Laurel’s Fall 2026 cost sheet splits each total into tuition and other charges. Practical nursing at Uniontown or Hermitage is $19,995 in tuition out of a $25,586 total; the ADN at Morgantown is $33,865 of $43,078; respiratory therapy is $40,845 of about $48,400; and the online ADN-to-BSN is $10,000 of $13,137. The lowest total we could read is $12,755 for Pennsylvania’s esthetics/nail technician diploma (the nail technician course’s figure was unclear); the most expensive are respiratory therapy and the 30-month ADN-plus-BSN pathway ($55,592).
Federal figures are lower because they are yearly: tuition and fees were $13,431 at Hermitage (2025-26) and $13,713 at the Uniontown institution (2024-25), according to College Navigator. On the U.S. Department of Education’s 2026 list of private for-profit two-year schools with the lowest net price, Laurel says Hermitage averaged $6,914 and Uniontown $6,925.
Laurel takes part in federal student aid (Title IV). At Hermitage, 93% of beginning students received aid in 2023-24, averaging $7,804 in grants and $11,807 in loans (College Navigator). Laurel’s July 2026 consumer disclosures report a three-year loan default rate of 0% and mention GI Bill benefits; ask your campus whether your program is approved.
Admissions and schedule
Laurel admits applicants with a high school diploma or GED who score at least 75 on its entrance assessment, according to its September 2026 catalog. Some programs add requirements (see the program sections above); the ADN-to-BSN needs an active RN license and an ADN with a 3.0 GPA. Online applicants can enroll conditionally and try courses at no cost.
Many program pages advertise an October 2026 start. Many campuses run day and evening classes. Fort Mill’s electrical program meets Monday to Friday 8 to 4 or Monday to Thursday 4 to 10. Online classes are live and also recorded.
Accreditation, approvals and results
Every Laurel campus is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). Pennsylvania’s State Board of Private Licensed Schools, West Virginia’s Council for Community and Technical College Education and South Carolina’s Commission on Higher Education approve the campuses, and Laurel takes part in NC-SARA through Pennsylvania for its online programs. Morgantown’s associate nursing programs are approved by the West Virginia RN Board (the hybrid bridge received provisional approval in March 2025) and hold initial ACEN accreditation (June 2024). Practical nursing is approved by the Pennsylvania and South Carolina nursing boards. Respiratory therapy is accredited by CoARC at Uniontown and Hermitage (CoARC placed Hermitage on probation in December 2025), and Fort Mill is seeking provisional accreditation.
Laurel’s 2025 ACCSC annual reports give graduation and employment rates by campus for students who started roughly between 2020 and 2023. Most cohorts are small, so a few students change the rate a lot. Fort Mill’s report was unclear and is not shown.
| Program | Uniontown, PA | Hermitage, PA | Morgantown, WV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical Nursing | 76% (13/17); 85% employed | No graduates yet | – |
| Nursing (ADN) | – | – | 69% (22/32); 82% employed; 100% licensure |
| LPN/Paramedic to ADN | – | – | 82% (18/22); 78% employed |
| Respiratory Therapy | 28% (5/18); 100% employed | 70% (7/10); 43% employed; 100% licensure | – |
| Cardiovascular Technology | – | No graduates | 56% (5/9); 100% employed |
| Electrical Technician | 75% (12/16); 100% employed | 100% (12/12); 92% employed | 81% (13/16); 77% employed |
| Welding | 75% (12/16); 83% employed | 73% (19/26); 74% employed | – |
| Cosmetology | 80% (20/25); 70% employed | 84% (21/25); 76% employed; 100% licensure | 83% (19/23); 68% employed; 100% licensure |
| Esthetics (with nails in PA) | 94% (16/17); 57% employed | 91% (20/22); 63% employed; 71% licensure | 91% (10/11); 40% employed |
| Clinical Medical Assistant | 73% (8/11); 75% employed | – | – |
Licensing exams. Uniontown’s practical nursing graduates passed the NCLEX-PN 13 of 13 in 2023-24 and 11 of 13 in 2024-25 (Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing, October–September years). Hermitage, Export and Fort Mill had no published results yet. The West Virginia RN Board publishes NCLEX-RN pass rates for Morgantown’s ADN, LPN-to-ADN and Paramedic-to-ADN programs; we could not confirm which year the latest figures belong to, so check the board’s table before relying on them. The board’s standard is 80%.
Federal figures. College Navigator gives a 69% graduation rate within 150% of normal time for the Uniontown institution and its branches and 73% for Hermitage (fall 2021 starters), with 71% retention at Hermitage. Niche, using federal data, shows median earnings five years out of $32,390 for Hermitage and $30,833 for Uniontown.
Accreditor actions
- Hermitage respiratory therapy, CoARC probation (December 2025). CoARC placed program #200567 on probation because 56% of its graduates (19 of 34) met the high cut score on the TMC exam, below CoARC’s 60% threshold. The program cannot increase enrollment while on probation, which can last up to two years. CoARC was due to review it in March 2026; we could not confirm the outcome, and Laurel’s program page still showed its probation status in October 2026.
- Morgantown, ACCSC (September 2023 notice). ACCSC’s public notice lists a renewal of accreditation with stipulations for Morgantown, dated 5 November 2022. We could not confirm what the stipulations required. Hermitage’s renewal (5 January 2022) and Fort Mill’s (5 May 2025) carried no such note.
We found no ACCSC warning or probation for any Laurel campus in the public notices we checked from September 2023 to March 2026, no nursing board sanctions, and no lawsuits, settlements or attorney-general actions from 2023 to 2026.
Campus changes since 2021
- Morgantown moved to 200 Wedgewood Drive in February 2021.
- Laurel’s Meadville, PA branch stopped enrolling on-campus students and closed after the fall 2022 semester.
- Fort Mill opened in 2023 as Laurel Institute of Technology on Ben Casey Drive, teaching cardiovascular technology, and moved to 345 Patricia Lane in late summer 2024.
- The Export (Penn Township) satellite of Uniontown opened in spring 2025.
- In August 2026 Laurel’s Fort Mill school bought the former PTL building at 7000 Regent Parkway, about 50,000 square feet. A move is planned but needs approval from South Carolina’s Commission on Higher Education and the accreditor, and Laurel says no enrollment there should be inferred yet.
Clinicals, internships and career help
Laurel’s campuses are commuter schools with no housing. Most programs include an internship or clinical rotation, and Laurel’s eLearning team arranges local externships for online students. Named employer partners include WVU Medicine, Mon Health, Encompass Health and Mercy Health for health programs, Carrier and Automated Logic for HVAC and electrical (since May 2025) and Nemacolin for spa students. Nursing graduates can transfer under an articulation agreement with West Virginia Wesleyan College signed in September 2024.
Before you enroll
- What you can study depends on the campus. Registered nursing is taught only in Morgantown, and Laurel teaches no practical nursing in West Virginia. Check the program list for your own campus rather than the school-wide list.
- Respiratory therapy results vary by campus. CoARC placed Hermitage on probation in December 2025 (its program page still showed probation in October 2026, so check its current status with CoARC), Uniontown graduated 5 of 18 students in its latest reported cohort, and Fort Mill’s first class starts in October 2026 while it seeks provisional accreditation.
- Laurel does not claim programmatic accreditation for cardiovascular technology (CAAHEP), medical laboratory technician (NAACLS) or the new BSN, and does not state the paramedic program’s status. Ask in writing how graduates qualify for the CCI, ASCP and NREMT exams.
- Online programs are not open to California residents. The hybrid LPN/Paramedic-to-ADN meets RN licensing requirements only in West Virginia, by Laurel’s own disclosure, and 11 states plus Puerto Rico license laboratory staff without Laurel confirming that its MLT program qualifies.
- Several programs are new and have no results yet: paramedic, Fort Mill respiratory therapy, and practical nursing at Hermitage, Export and Fort Mill. Esthetics graduates finished at high rates but were employed at 40% to 63% in the latest reports.
What students say
Niche has two Laurel pages with 25 or more reviews (checked 5 October 2026): Laurel Technical Institute in Hermitage, 3.78 out of 5 from 81 reviews, and the page still named Laurel Business Institute, for Uniontown, 4.22 out of 5 from 37 reviews. Morgantown’s Niche page has only 10 reviews, and we found no Trustpilot or GradReports pages with enough reviews to summarize.
Students most often praise small classes and instructors who are easy to reach, hands-on labs, including the nursing lab, helpful staff and preparation for board exams. Complaints center on cosmetology instructors described as unprofessional and strict attendance and discipline rules at Hermitage, problems with the financial-aid office, and inconsistent administration in some Uniontown trade programs. Niche shows dates for only a few reviews (December 2024 to July 2025), so we could not tell whether reviews were invited by the school or posted in bursts, and both pages are for the Pennsylvania schools.
Sources
Checked October 2026: Laurel accreditation and licenses · Program Costs Fall 2026 · Laurel consumer information and ACCSC annual reports · CoARC notice, Hermitage (Dec 2025) · ACCSC public notice (Sep 2023) · PA Board of Nursing NCLEX-PN rates 2024-25 · College Navigator: Uniontown institution · College Navigator: Hermitage
Programs & Courses
School of Healthcare
- Nursing (ADN), Morgantown
- LPN/Paramedic to ADN, Morgantown or hybrid online
- ADN to BSN, online or Morgantown
- Practical Nursing
- Respiratory Therapy
- Cardiovascular Technology
- Paramedic (from October 2026)
- Clinical Medical Assistant (hybrid online)
- Medical Billing & Coding (online)
- Medical Laboratory Technician (online)
School of Trades & Technology
- Electrical Technician
- Electrical Systems Technician (Fort Mill)
- HVAC Systems Technician (diploma)
- HVAC Technician (associate, Morgantown)
- Welding & Fabrication with Pipeline Technology
- Computer Network Security Technician (Hermitage)
- Cloud Computing Technology (online)
School of Business
- Accounting & Business Administration (online)
School of Spa & Cosmetology Arts
- Cosmetology
- Esthetics/Nail Technician (Pennsylvania)
- Esthetics (Morgantown)
- Hair Styling (Morgantown)
- Nail Technician
- Master Teacher of Cosmetology (Pennsylvania)
School of Culinary Arts
- Culinary Arts (Hermitage)
Campus Locations
Uniontown, PA 11 East Penn Street, Uniontown, PA 15401
Pittsburgh (Export), PA 1100 Randall Court, Suite 100, Export, PA 15632
Hermitage, PA 2370 Broadway Ave, Hermitage, PA 16148
Morgantown, WV 200 Wedgewood Drive, Morgantown, WV 26505
Charlotte (Fort Mill), SC 345 Patricia Lane, Suite 105, Fort Mill, SC 29708