Post-secondary education in Erie

Close to one million people live in the Florida county I live in. There are two post-secondary institutions.

In contrast, about 280,000 people live in Erie County, and there are five post-secondary instituations.

Advantage: Erie County.

There is currently talk in Erie about creating a community college. The argument is that a community college would provide relatively inexpensive education for the first two years after high school graduation.

Is a community college necesary in Erie County? I'm not convinced it is. While there's no doubt a community college is a good choice for many students, there are already plenty of choices for getting a college education in Erie County.

The five existing colleges, all with excellent reputations, are:

Gannon University
Gannon University is a Catholic institution in downtown Erie. It offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees, as well as certificates and doctoral degrees. More than 3,500 students attend Gannon.

Mercyhurst College
Like Gannon, Mercyhurst College is a Catholic college. It is also in the Erie city limits, on East 38th Street. The Erie campus offers 50 undergraduate majors with 67 concentrations, as well as adult programs and five graduate programs. Mercyhurst also has one- and two-year programs at its North East campus. Mercyhurst also opened a campus in Girard in 2006.

Penn State Behrend
As its name implies, Penn State Behrend is an arm of Pennsylvania State University. It is located at the Erie city limits near Harborcreek. More than 4,000 students attend Behrend, which offers 32 baccalaureate majors, 22 minors, six associate degree programs and two graduate programs, including an MBA.

Edinboro University
Edinboro University is located about 20 miles south of Erie in the city of Edinboro. About 7,700 undergraduate and graduate students attend Edinboro, which offers more than 100 degree programs. The University also has campuses in Erie and Meadville. Like Behrend, Edinboro is an arm of Penn State University.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
LECOM trains Osteopathic doctors and pharmacists. According to the school's web site, they are the fastest growing medical college in the country. LECOM also has a campus in Bradenton, Florida.

For a county of less than 300,000 population, the post-secondary educational opportunities in Erie County are nothing short of excellent.