The Pennsylvania Institute of Technology was founded in April 1953 by Walter R. Garrison, a practicing engineer. He recognized the need for practicing engineers to perform stress analysis in the aircraft and civil/architectural fields. An office and classroom were secured in Upper Darby, PA, and classes began in mathematics, stress analysis and other technical subjects. By 1962 students and classes had outgrown those rented facilities, and P.I.T. purchased larger facilities in Upper Darby. P.I.T. remained in Upper Darby for almost 30 years until the growth of the programs and students necessitated a move in 1982 to today's lovely, spacious, 14 acre Rose Valley-Media campus
In 1983, P.I.T. was accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. In 1976, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDOE) granted approval to P.I.T. to award specialized Associate's Degrees for its technical programs. In 1995, the PDOE granted approval to P.I.T. to operate as a two-year college in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. P.I.T. is a private, not-for-profit, 501c(3) College whose goal is to help people help themselves through a collegiate education.
P.I.T. offers two-year associate degrees and shorter (one-year or less) career certificate programs in Allied Health Technology, Nursing, Business Administration Technology, Computer Information Technology and Engineering Technology. These programs prepare students of all ages for careers in their chosen fields and/or transfer to a four-year college or university. While the emphasis is on quality in the
program offerings, faculty and staff recognize that the primary objective of
education is the comprehensive development of the student. All faculty
members of P.I.T. have as their first priority the success of the student
through the creation and maintenance of an atmosphere conducive to the
learning process. The objective is to assist students in achieving their
educational career and social goals.