By 1926, a more permanent relationship was sought by the school board, and UPJ was officially founded as a two-year college of the University of Pittsburgh on September 24, 1927.

After World War II, the Johnstown College moved to the Moxham section of the city where the number of courses and students increased.

In the early 1960s, community leaders worked with the University of Pittsburgh to build a new campus in suburban Richland Township.

The University of Pittsburgh, including UPJ and other regional campuses, is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

U.S. News & World Report's 2021 edition of Best Regional Colleges - North ranked Pitt-Johnstown 31st (tie) overall.

Other features include a 40-acre (160,000 m2) nature preserve, more than 15 intramural activities, more than 70 student organizations, and NCAA Division II men's and women's sports.

It is equipped with satellite down-link programming, three full-motion cameras, data ports, video monitors, and much more.

Labs primarily contain Windows 10-based PCs, along with several Macintosh computers, application servers, laser printers, scanners, and advanced graphics devices.

The labs can be used to work with software, such as word processing and programming languages, or to access network services, such as online card catalogs, electronic mail, and the Internet.

The union also holds a game room, esports lounge,[12] information desk, and many organizational offices.

The art gallery displays at least eight exhibitions a year as well as work produced by UPJ students.

In addition to the residence units in the Living/Learning Center, the campus offers the choice of single-sex and coeducational housing.

[19] The memorial's centerpiece is a 3,500 lb (1,587.6 kg) steel Ɪ-beam from the World Trade Center which is surrounded by 12 granite panels that are engraved with over 9,000 names of those who died in the September 11 attacks as well as the service men and women who have been killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[22] The Mountain Cats previously competed as a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) from 2006–07 to 2012–13.

[24] The wrestling program also includes several highly decorated wrestlers among its former athletes, including the most decorated wrestler in NCAA history, Carlton Haselrig, who went undefeated during his career and won three Division I and three Division II individual national championships.

[28][29] Women's volleyball has earned bids to the NCAA Division II tournament six times since 2013, including in 2024.