At CPTC, we're focused on your success. Whether you're getting ready to enter the workforce or preparing for the next step in your career, our instructors and online and on-campus courses are here to help.
Clover Park Technical College offers more than 120 certificates or degree offerings in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, health sciences, human services, business, hospitality, science, technology, engineering, transportation, and trades.
Clover Park Technical College has two campuses to meet your needs: our main campus in Lakewood and our aviation-focused South Hill Campus just south of Puyallup and adjacent to Thun Field.
We offer excellent, affordable education, hands-on training, nationally accredited programs, and faculty and staff that are among the most talented and innovative in the nation.
Our rich history of professional and technical education dates to the 1940s, when the Clover Park School District established a War Production program training civilians as auto mechanics, aircraft-service mechanics, ship-fitters, welders, and blueprint readers.
History
This is the brief version — view the full version on our history page.
In 1941 a program called War Production Training began in shop buildings at Clover Park High School. This training taught area citizens the skills needed to repair and maintain military equipment during World War II. In this program, 500 students were trained in auto mechanics and aircraft service mechanics. Out of this training, Clover Park Vocational-Technical Institute was founded in 1942. In 1954 Clover Park Vocational-Technical Institute began moving from its home in the Navy Supply Depot to vacant warehouses. In 1957 CPVTI received a small grant to purchase books and other materials to create its first resource center. In the late 1960s the schools started 16 new programs in one year, a record number. By 1970 the school employed 90 full-time instructors. Clover Park Vocational-Technical Institute left the Clover Park School District in the 1990s and became Clover Park Technical College.
Today
- Accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
- Enrollment: 6, 688 students; 4,004 FTES (full-time equivalent)
- Student body: female: 64%, male 36%
- Students of color: 51%
- Median age: 28
- Family and finances
- Students receiving need based financial aid (2016-17): 44%
- Students who work: 56%
- Students with children: 30%
- Employment rate (2016-2017): 77%
- Student-to-faculty ratio: 21:1
- Average class size: 13
Our Bragging Points
Our Aviation Maintenance Technician students average among the highest pass rates in the nation for FAA certification.
We were the first two-year college in the nation to meet the National Security Administration's training standards in computer security.
