A consultants’ feasibility study is expected to be finished as soon as mid-April.

The nonprofit behind efforts to create an Erie County community college has hired its consulting team, which is conducting a telephone survey to gauge local interest in launching the new school as part of a state-required feasibility study.

Parker Phillips, an Erie-based consulting firm, has retained Research America of Newton Square, Pennsylvania, to conduct a telephone survey of at least 500 Erie County residents “to ask them for their opinions on the need for a community college, need for specific (degrees) and program offerings and potential use of the college,” Nichole Parker, a co-owner of the consulting firm, said in an email.

The 12-minute telephone survey is taking place now and asks questions that fulfill the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s requirements regarding determining demand, support for and the curriculum of a community college.

Those who complete the survey who are between the ages of 18 and 24 are entered into a drawing and have a chance to win their choice of a virtual reality headset or a high capacity cellphone charger, Parker said.

“It is very common practice to have to offer an incentive for people in the 18-24 age group to get them to complete any kind of survey,” Parker said.

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