Pioneer Pacific College began in 1981 as an electronics school in Corvallis, Oregon, named Skilltronics. Founded by Irene and James Childers, the training school was moved to Wilsonville in 1983. Pacific Education Corporation purchased Skilltronics in 1989 and changed the name to Pioneer Pacific College with accreditation coming in 1995. Former Oregon legislator Kelly Clark co-owned the college in the early 1990s. In 1999, the college added a campus in Clackamas and the next year moved the main campus to a larger facility. For the 2001 to 2002 academic year the school granted 108 associates degrees. Pioneer Pacific started a criminal justice program in 2002 that offered an associates degree at its Wilsonville campus.