Historic Preservation Program
Bucks County Pennsylvania has a built environment which extends back for more than 300 years. This heritage is found in historic downtowns, in small villages and in the rural landscape, which give the county its distinctive identity and sense of place. Such a fragile and finite legacy requires enlightened citizens who wish to preserve the integrity of our man-made environment.
In 1991, the Bucks County Community College (Bucks) Department of Social and Behavioral Science implemented a two-year Certificate Program in Historic Preservation. During the next decade the campus program grew in size with course offerings, students and graduates.
In 2007, the Historic Preservation Faculty built on the success of their award-winning program by launching the Online Certificate in Historic Preservation program. The new online program retains the successful elements of the on-campus program and enables students from any corner of the country to utilize their local historic resources to complete the course work.
In 2008, Bucks students won the coveted National Parks Service/American Institute of Architects' Charles E. Peterson Prize, which annually recognizes the best set of measured drawings prepared to Historic American Building Survey standards by college or university students.
The Historic Preservation Certificate Program serves the people of Bucks County and the Delaware Valley as well as preservationists across the country. Through course work, special lectures, workshops, field work and internships our students gain a broad-based preservation education enabling them to assume more responsibility in local communities or enhance their job status.
Students of our program represent preservationists with diverse backgrounds including but not limited to Historical Architectural Review Boards, Historic Commissions, Zoning Commissions, Certified Local Governments, architects, attorneys, historians, builders, planners, developers, realtors and local conservancies.
All are welcome to participate in this unique program through our on campus curriculum, our online curriculum or by combining the curricula to customize a program that fits your schedule.
Bucks Historic Preservation Program has an active chapter of Sigma Pi Kappa, an international honor society for students who demonstrate outstanding leadership and scholarship in historic preservation.
