Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

with its main campus in

Henderson County, North Carolina Henderson County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 116,281. Its county seat is Hendersonville, North Carolina, Hendersonville. ...

. It was founded in 1969. It also has a campus in Flat Rock, North Carolina and a

Transylvania County Transylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census the population is 32,986. Its county seat is Brevard. Transylvania County comprises the Brevard Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included i ...

campus in

Brevard, North Carolina Brevard is a city in Transylvania County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 7,609 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Transylvania County. Brevard is located at the entrance to Pisgah National Forest and has become ...

. It is part of the

North Carolina Community College System The North Carolina Community College System (System Office) is a statewide network of 58 public community colleges. The system enrolls over 500,000 students annually. It also provides the North Carolina Learning Object Repository as a central loc ...

History

According to its college catalog and student handbook, the college was established in May 1969 as Henderson County Technical Institute. At that time, the citizens of Henderson County approved a

bond issue In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to repay the principal (i.e. amount borrowed) of the bond at the maturity date as well as i ...

and a special

tax levy A tax levy under United States federal law is an administrative action by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under statutory authority, generally without going to court, to seize property to satisfy a tax liability. The levy "includes the power ...

which provided funds for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a physical plant for the school. The institution began operation on December 1, 1969, with the first course offered on January 8, 1970. The first full-time curriculum began on September 14, 1970. On October 12, 1970, the school's

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

voted to change the school's name to ''Blue Ridge'' Technical Institute. On July 9, 1979, they voted to change the name to Blue Ridge Technical ''College''. It current name—Blue Ridge ''Community'' College—was approved by the board of trustees on September 14, 1987. The school's athletic program is known as the Bears. Today, the college operates on two campuses. The Henderson County campus along College Drive is a 13-building, 128-acre complex two-and-a-half miles southeast of

Hendersonville, North Carolina Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leona ...

. Its mailing address is 180 West Campus Drive, Flat Rock, NC 28731. The Transylvania County campus, completed in 2008, occupies two large facilities on nine acres off Oak Park Drive in Brevard. The mailing address of this campus is 45 Oak Park Drive, Brevard, NC 28742. Both campuses offer

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

and

continuing education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...

classes.

Academics

Blue Ridge Community College is accredited by the

Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priva ...

(SACS) to award the

Associate in Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

degree (A.A.), the

Associate in Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The ...

degree (A.S.), the Associate in Fine Arts degree (A.F.A.), the Associate in General Education degree (A.G.E.), and the

Associate in Applied Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

degree (A.A.Sc.). The college is an accredited member of the

and all its programs have been approved by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges. Private support of BRCC comes from the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation, Inc., founded in 1974.

References

External links

* {{authority control North Carolina Community College System colleges Educational institutions established in 1969 1969 establishments in North Carolina Two-year colleges in the United States