ABOUT

Our Purpose.

The lack of adult education and workforce training opportunities in Corry prompted the community to incorporate the nonprofit Corry Higher Education Council on May 31, 1991.

The Corry Higher Education Council was the second Community Education Council to be formed in Pennsylvania, after the Warren-Forest Higher Education Council in 1984. We are now one of nine CECs that serve largely rural and educationally under-served communities of the state.

Corry Hi-Ed creates and runs its own programming, such as our computer training, personal enrichment offerings, and our Corry Regional Leadership program. We also directly provide such workforce offerings as welding, machining and Pennsylvania Vehicle Inspection license classes through a building-use partnership with Corry Area High School’s Career & Technical Center.

We collaborate with other education and training schools and organizations, such as Northern Pennsylvania Regional College, Manufacturer & Business Association, and Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit, to offer their programming. Corry Hi-Ed was named as one of four sites for the new Erie County Community College of PA to hold its inaugural classes beginning in Fall 2021.

The CECs are funded through a state budget line item, but Corry Hi-Ed is also extremely fortunate to have the financial support of our local manufacturers and other businesses, as well as local charitable foundations – the Arlene H. Smith Charitable Foundation, the Corry Community Foundation, and the David Nichols/Corry Savings Bank Trust of the Northwest Bancorp Charitable Foundation.

This support has allowed us to transform the former “Hotel Corry” into the “Bruce and Arlene Smith Education Center.” This historic building opened in 1924 and served the community as a hotel until the Corry Higher Education Council purchased it in 1991. The ensuing years have seen this cornerstone downtown building preserved and transformed into a vibrant facility that includes classrooms, computer labs, and office space. It truly is a place that adult students can call home.

Incorporated by John “Chip” Colwell, Paul “Hoop” Roche Jr., and the late Michael Allyn, born out of community need and supported by the community, the Corry Higher Education Council is a true grass-roots success story!