A RIBBON CUTTING WILL TAKE PLACE THURSDAY ON THE $43 MILLION CENTER FOR EDUCATION, INNOVATION & TRAINING AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY ON THE NORTH SIDE. CLASSES WILL BEGIN THERE IN JANUARY. | PHOTOS BY VIRGINIA LINN

At a time when the Community College of Allegheny County is experiencing its first upswing in enrollment in more than a decade, the 57-year-old school is taking a major step in bolstering its academic curriculum. 

The college on Thursday, Oct. 26 will celebrate a ribbon cutting on its $43 million Center for Education, Innovation & Training at its flagship campus on the North Side — the cornerstone of the CCAC’s Pioneering Pittsburgh’s New Workforce fund-raising campaign that aims to prepare students for high-demand and emerging careers.

The 60,000-square-foot building on Ridge Avenue, which opens for instruction in January, will provide hands-on experiences with state-of-the art labs and facilities. It will house a large robotics lab, advanced equipment from simulators to augmented reality tools. There will be programming in 3D printing, additive and advanced manufacturing, baking and pastry arts, culinary arts, foodservice/restaurant management, machine learning and more.

“We are investing in skills training for fast-growing occupations while promoting apprenticeships, partnerships and collaborations as we continue to rejuvenate the region’s workforce and provide students with unlimited educational opportunities,” CCAC President Quintin Bullock said in a statement. 

Construction on the building began on Nov. 1, 2021. The school now has a total of $90 million in commitments in its fund-raising campaign, surpassing its initial $65 million goal. 

WORKERS DO SOME LAST-MINUTE LANDSCAPING ON WEDNESDAY TO GET THE CENTER FOR EDUCATION, INNOVATION & TRAINING READY FOR ITS RIBBON CUTTING.

Additional funds raised will go toward other capital projects and workforce programming across the college, which includes three other campuses around the region and three centers. Support came from state and county governments and Pittsburgh Urban Initiatives. In addition, the college brought in $31 million in private donations from corporations, foundations and individuals. Lead commitments came from BNY Mellon and Highmark Health.

The building’s unveiling comes as CCAC is seeing its enrollment rebound following a 12-year decline that started long before the coronavirus pandemic walloped college enrollment across the country. More than 10,000 full-time students enrolled in the fall, a 10% increase over 2022, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

From 2012 to 2022, the college saw the number of its for-credit students (a different measure compared with full-time students) drop 43% from 32,936 to 18,800.