Hello, and welcome to the home page of Penn State's Engineering Continuing and Distance Education, C&DE, office.

This office supports engineers in lifelong learning - the process of acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary to remain current in a chosen field.

In today's rapidly-changing, knowledge-based economy, engineers must devote the time and effort to learn new skills and technologies in order to add value for their employers and clients and to remain personally marketable.

An undergraduate degree in Engineering provides both an entree to the profession and a foundation for future learning.  It is, however, the beginning, not the end, of learning.  Why?  Because it has been estimated that the life of a B.S. degree in Engineering is about seven years.  After that, technological change and innovation have created new knowledge of which the person must become aware and capable of applying.  Considering that an engineering career may span 40+ years, one may have to re-invent oneself several times over.  The good news is that it is easier than you think.  You can update your skills through a variety of means, including:

Since the university specializes in discovering and organizing knowledge, we feel that we have a major role to play in supplying this packaged knowledge to those who need it.  That's where the Engineering C&DE office comes in.  We link engineers' educational needs with the knowledge discovered and organized by the Engineering faculty.  We also support the faculty in the delivery of quality programs.  The diagram below shows some of the channels through which we deliver educational programs, and the diverse audiences to whom we deliver them.

Every year, the College supports the delivery of hundreds of programs to thousands of learners throughout Pennsylvania and the U.S.  Programs are delivered at University Park, at Penn State campuses throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to work sites, and, in the case of distance education courses, to people's homes and offices.

In addition to the standard face-to-face instruction, we link learners and faculty through a broad range of technologies, including: the Internet, e-mail, videoconferencing, fax, and an interactive telephone system.

We take great pride in bringing you quality courses, taught by expert instructors, and delivered in a user-friendly manner.