Stevens College of Tech Expanding Footprint with New Diesel School

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 07/08/20

Construction has begun on a new facility that will be leased by a Pennsylvania college. Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is expecting to move into the new building by June 1, 2021. The 86,000-square-foot building is under development by High Real Estate Group in its Greenfield site. Greenfield Architects is handling design and High Construction, part of High Companies, is handling construction. The Greenfield site is also home to businesses, hotels, residential living and other colleges.

The new structure will serve as the college's new diesel technology school. Currently, classes for automotive technology and collision repair technology are taught at Stevens' main campus in Lancaster. Those programs will be relocated to the new space, alongside the diesel technology program. The space they're occupying will be used for expansion of cabinetmaking and wood technology courses.

The college already leases space at the Greenfield site for its welding technology, masonry construction technology and computer software engineering technology programs.

"Thaddeus Stevens College is facing a tremendous increase in demand for graduates in transportation-related majors, including Automotive Technology, Collision Repair Technology, and a new program that will launch Fall 2021, Diesel Technology," said William Griscom, former college president who negotiated the lease prior to his retirement, in a statement. "Most graduates from these programs receive multiple offers for livable wage jobs. This new building with state-of-the-art equipment and classrooms will enable the college to quadruple the number of students it can educate in these majors."

According to local reporting, the school will enroll 150 to 200 students in programs at the new facility. The college is owned by the state and has 1,300 students taking classes in 18 buildings.