Community and Workforce Programs

The Office of Community and Workforce Programs (CWP) at Penn State Behrend serves as a bridge between higher education and the community by delivering customized training, professional development, and outreach services tailored to industry and adult learners. Through certificate courses, continuing education, corporate workshops, and its nationally accredited Plastics Training Academy, CWP equips individuals and businesses with practical, applied skills while fostering collaboration across academia and industry.

Penn State is a Project Management Institute Authorized Training Partner 2025.

Project Management Programs

Boost your career with our Project Management courses! We offer everything from the basics to advanced certifications, including exam prep programs for the Certified Associate in Project Management and Project Management Professional exams; certificates in Project Management, Project Management Office Fundamentals, and Project Risk; and a Certified ScrumMaster® certification.

Negotiating Effectively course in session.

Continuing Education Programs

Whether you want to launch a new career or upgrade your current skills, you need to be up-to-date on the latest trends. We offer continuing education courses in a number of disciplines—from Six Sigma methodologies to winemaking.

Behrend's large college plastics lab with industrial machinery, including injection molding machines and overhead cranes, where students and an instructor are gathered.

Plastics Training Academy

Nationally accredited plastics technology institution? Check. Face-to-face instruction by industry experts? Check. Hands-on experience in a state-of-the-art plastics laboratory? Check. Skills that can be immediately applied in the workplace? Check. From injection molding principles to DOE to part design principles, your processes can be enhanced through seminars offered by the Plastics Training Academy at Penn State Behrend.

Learn More about Plastics Training
Penn State Behrend faculty member instructs Plastics Training Academy participants from regional industry.

Bridging Industry and Academia

Our office often serves as the liaison between industry and academia, bringing these two forces together to meet business and community needs through the college’s Open Lab model of learning and discovery. In the college’s Open Lab environment, students and faculty members work side by side with business and industry partners to explore ideas, advance technologies, and refine products and services. The goal is to reduce barriers between industry and academia, research and practice, and learning and doing, providing students with valuable hands-on learning experiences and delivering research, development, and design solutions to business and industry.

Penn State Behrend Tong Project