Westmoreland County Community College - Student Achievement Center — Local services in Hempfield Township

It is possible to get an education at WCCC, and there are some spectacular teachers there, some who truly have a passion about their subjects and their students. It is up to the student to put forth an effort in their classes. There are many hurdles that must be overcome at WCCC, though. All of which are fixable, but will take time and effort. This college is stuck in 1975.

Administration and Support Staff This is where WCCC truly fails. On entry everyone takes a placement test, and everyone fails the basic computer class. This forces everyone to take a basic computer (MS Office) class. The class is basic and easily passed, but is a gimmick to include one more useless class in tuition. The entrance counselors are more like sales people than true counselors. They place you into classes, just to get you into school. They don't try to get you into the right classes.

Financial aid is a disaster. First off, everything is a secret. EVERYTHING. If you ask when you can expect a loan or grant refund, they tell you it is unknown. I have been on CCAC campuses and they post huge signs with dates that say when loan, grant, and refund payments will be made. It is no state secret, yet the financial aid staff acts as if it is coming out of their paychecks directly.

The school is facing a serious budget crisis and has had declining enrollment over the last five years. Key positions are vacated, and not filled. Tuition continues to rise, with little return for the student. What was once a true value in postsecondary education is now a hoax.

Academics Academics can be hit and miss. Some classes require a pre-requisite, which ends up not being a pre-requisite at all. You use the same book for both the pre-requisite and the regular class, only in the pre-requisite you cover the first few chapters or half of the book, then cover the rest in the "regular" class. You are basically charged twice for what in normal college would be one class. Chances are high that the "pre-requisite" class does not transfer to a regular college.

I was in a technical program, but heard horror stories about the medical programs. Some you take almost two years of pre-requisite classes before you can test for the possibility to enter. The x-ray program boasts that they accept 20 students a year so as not to "flood" the job market. There are dozens of hospitals in western PA that are always looking for x-ray techs. WCCC couldn't flood the job market if they accepted 100 into their program every year. Stories of students kicked out of the nursing program, with weeks left until graduation, for no reason, are plentiful.

Student Life There is very little to do on campus. They try to have activities for students, but they are almost always attended by as many staff as students. All students pay for this. It used to be a separate "activity fee" that was charged per credit, but now it is just rolled into the tuition. Staff that attends these student paid events are doing nothing less than stealing from students, yet nothing is ever done about it.

Facilities Most facilities are run down. Maintenance rarely happens, yet maintenance personnel are frequently seen sitting in the cafeteria area watching TV for hours on end. Buildings leak water when it rains and the cockroach problem in Founder's Hall borders on unsanitary. Heating and cooling systems are spotty at best. Some work. Some don't.

The Advanced Technology Center (ATC), which is where most of the technology program classes are located is a slight improvement to the Youngwood campus. Although this campus just opened in 2014, you will feel right at home in 1998. There remains equipment not hooked up or unusable. The building's windows shrink in the winter and allow wind tunnel effect in the main hallway. There were two large screen TVs mounted at one end of the hallway that had to be removed due to water leaking. You would think that after spending a huge chunk of change to renovate the building, they would hold someone accountable. There is no maintenance personnel on this campus,...

Absolutely love this community college!!! Moved here from Va two years ago and started going to wccc last semester…I can’t explain how thankful I am to have the opportunity to go there! (I also went to community college in Va and it wasn’t nearly as nice as this campus)

From the advisors, to the professors…to the gentleman that work at the technology desk…everyone is so friendly and helpful!

The student achievement center has been renovated and although I don’t know what it looked like before, I think it looks amazing! I go there to study A LOT since it’s hard to focus at home sometimes and if it wasn’t for that center, I probably wouldn’t have passed my classes last semester. They have great amenities like a Starbucks, free printing for students and a pantry for students to get snacks when they need a mental boost/break. And did I mention there is FREE PARKING? My old community college didn’t offer nearly as many amenities and had us pay for parking 🙄

I think the only thing that it’s missing a daycare which I desperately wish they would bring back as I feel it would give a lot more single moms the opportunity to go back to school and get a degree doing something they love! Would also help set a good example for their kids!!!

Any way. Very grateful for this place. Thank you all for...

This is an excellent community college. It has some great teachers, and although the main campus has some older facilities, brand new centers like the ATC and Latrobe branch are really awesome.

And I know. I already had a 4 year-degree from a 30k per year private college, but went to WCCC to flesh out my academic profile when I wanted to increase my credentials for graduate school. I enjoyed it so much, I stuck around much longer than I anticipated. The workload was certainly easier at WCCC than my private school, but the teachers were just as qualified and dedicated as my private school - and students might be able to just ease through their degree doing the bare minimum, but those that are active and engaged can get just as much out of this school and its teachers as I did from my expensive private school. Out of 2 degrees and nearly 100 credits I took at WCCC, I was only disappointed with one or two professors.

I highly recommend WCCC. And why not take the risk? It's cheap, and new students might have their costs covered by the pell grant anyway. If you don't like it, don't stay. But why not try it out? As you can tell, I was just thrilled...