From Technician to Engineer: Penn College and NSF EARTH Partner on New Online HVAC Degree Program

Today’s HVAC technicians are among the industry's best sources of future engineering talent. They know the equipment, systems, and troubleshooting in today’s ever-changing cooling and heating environment. But what’s next for the technician who is ready to be challenged with more advanced HVAC work in commercial environments and perhaps move into leadership roles that often require a bachelor’s degree? 

Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College) has introduced a new technician-to-engineer (T2E) pathway, an online Bachelor of Science degree in Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Engineering Technology. In collaboration with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH), this new online pathway is an extension of an associate degree program and offers the final 61 credits of a bachelor's degree in HVAC engineering technology. 

Students can finish the upper-level engineering courses in two years when attending on a full-time basis. There is also the option to attend on a part-time basis while still working. Coursework is primarily asynchronous with virtual labs and applied capstone projects.

“One requirement for the program is that incoming students must have an associate degree from any accredited college,” said Ellyn Lester, assistant dean, Construction and Architecture at Penn College. “The associate degree doesn't have to be in HVAC—it could be something that's associated with the HVAC field. Or the student can come in with a lot of experience working as an HVAC technician. Bottom line, incoming students to this bachelor's degree program must have hands-on working knowledge of HVAC systems, as well as an associate degree.”

While this program is based at Penn College, the team at NSF EARTH, a multi-university NSF Engineering Research Center, collaborated on the development of eight upper-level engineering courses for an effective online learning environment. The balance of the full 61 credits lies in technical electives and general education requirements that are also available online.

“EARTH’s partnership with Penn College’s online bachelor’s degree in HVAC Engineering Technology is fulfilling our commitment to the NSF and our stakeholders to offer flexible degree programs to help technicians become engineers,” said Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Kansas and director of NSF EARTH. “The program builds the skills to design, estimate, and manage HVAC projects in commercial and residential applications, which is what our industry partners are looking for to advance their workforce.” 

“HVACR technicians already understand the equipment and field conditions,” said Jennifer Sprague, NSF EARTH director of Education and Workforce Development. “The degree adds advanced technical, systems, and design knowledge to that base.”

For employers, that combination is extremely valuable. A technician who has spent years installing, servicing, and troubleshooting systems brings that experience into application, design support, technology implementation, and technical leadership. Added Sprague, “The T2E program is another way for employers to grow their own talent and retain the people in whom they have already invested.”

And through the new coursework, there is the opportunity to bring these students to the forefront of HVAC research, so they can begin to effectively understand and implement new technology that is coming in the future.

“The ongoing research that NSF EARTH is doing informs both residential and commercial systems,” said Sprague. “So partnering in a program like this provides us an opportunity to share some of what we are learning in our research to educate advancing HVAC technicians and future leaders. This is another way we can train today's workforce about tomorrow’s technology.” 

For more than ten years, Penn College has been offering an on-campus Bachelor of Science Degree in HVAC Engineering Technology, which was recently the first such program to be accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE). 

The HVAC Engineering Technology online bachelor’s degree program began this fall semester with 19 students enrolled from Pennsylvania and across the country, including California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, and others. All current students are attending on a part-time basis.

“I am very surprised at how quickly the word has spread and how much interest there is in the program,” said Lester. “Currently, there is no limit to the number of students who may enroll if they qualify, and we are working with several who are working towards being able to begin the pathway. The other benefit of this program is that as an online student, there is no out-of-state tuition rate. All students in this program pay in-state tuition, regardless of where they live and work.”

To learn more about Penn College’s online bachelor’s degree program in HVAC Engineering Technology, please visit: https://www.pct.edu/catalog/majors/hvo

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EARTH Engineering Research Center

The Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) is an NSF- and corporate-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC). EARTH is dedicated to revolutionizing how refrigerants are formulated, manufactured, applied, monitored, and recycled to dramatically reduce the environmental footprint of the global cooling sector. Led by the University of Kansas, this consortium of partner research universities includes the University of Notre Dame, University of Maryland, Lehigh University, University of South Dakota, and the University of Hawai′i.