Porter and Chester Institute

Originally founded as the Porter School of Engineering Design in Hartford, Connecticut in 1946, Porter and Chester Institute (PCI) has enjoyed a long history of training New England’s workforce for success across a wide range of vocational professions. From our first career school and its early program offerings, we have expanded to nine locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts that now offer 10 career training programs with academic curriculums based on the needs of our students and area employers. In 1973, the Porter School of Engineering Design and the Chester Institute for Technical Education of Stratford, Connecticut, became one institution. Subsequently, the name Porter and Chester Institute was adopted, and the curricula contents and operational policies of the two institutions were standardized. At the same time, the Porter School, which was located in Rocky Hill Connecticut, became the Rocky Hill Campus of Porter and Chester Institute. In response to the increasing demand for PCI graduates, a campus was established in Waterbury, CT in 1977 (moved in 1986 to Watertown, CT). As opportunities continued to expand, in 1979 the Enfield, CT campus was added to serve central Connecticut, as well as southwestern Massachusetts. As the Enfield campus continued to grow the demand from Western Massachusetts led to the decision in 1993 to open a campus in Chicopee, MA to more directly serve that market. In August 1995, the stockholders of PCI purchased the Connecticut School of Electronics (CSE). CSE was established in 1947 in New Haven, CT. In 1996, to accommodate its growing enrollment and expansion plans, CSE moved from New Haven to larger quarters in Branford, Connecticut and was renamed Porter and Chester Institute of Branford. As demand for quality technical education continued to grow the decision was made to begin expanding our Massachusetts presence into the eastern part of state. In 2003 PCI opened a campus in Westborough, MA followed a few years later by Canton, MA in 2009 and then our newest location in Woburn, MA just opened in 2010. In an effort to better serve our local markets we relocated two campus locations. First, in October of 2014, the Westborough campus was moved to Worcester where the majority or our students attending that campus came from. Then in October of 2016 we moved our Watertown campus to the more convenient Waterbury location that resulted in less travel and easier accessibility for both our students as well as our staff. As its history indicates, Porter and Chester Institute is an experienced, consistent provider of technical, career-focused education and health related occupational preparation. Its history also reveals that the Institute is dedicated not only to its students but also to the community in general.