Centralia College is a public

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 ...

Centralia, Washington Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Ch ...

. Although it primarily offers certificates and

Associate degree 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 fi ...

s, it also offers a few

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

s. Founded in 1925, Centralia is the oldest continuously operating community college in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. As shown below, the college sits on in the middle of the town of Centralia. There is a branch education center, Centralia College East, in the town of

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

and the college offers a range of online and correspondence courses. Overall, the college serves an area of in Lewis County and southern Thurston County under the administrative classification of Community College District Twelve.

History

Centralia College opened in 1925 under the name of Centralia Junior College. Developing slowly at first, the college constructed its first physical campus in 1950 with Kemp Hall. Also, in 1948 the college received its

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

from the

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...

. Growing from an entrance class of 15 students, the college has an enrollment of 4,803 students in 64 academic programs. The college is affiliated with the private Centralia College Foundation, founded in 1982 by community members, to supplement its public resources. The college is also home to Michael Spafford's '' The Twelve Labors of Hercules'', a series of murals commissioned in the early 1980s for the House of Representatives' chambers. From 1982 to 1987 they were covered with curtains due to their perceived (by some) sexually suggestive nature and later were placed in storage. Following a decade of negotiations, the college acquired the murals in 2002 for display in the Corbet Theatre. Murals created by Alden Mason and originally displayed at the Capitol were moved to the college library in 1990. In 2012 the college began offering a

Bachelor of Applied Science The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as B.AS., BAS, BSAS, BASc, B.A.Sc., or BAppSc, is an undergraduate degree. There are also ''Bachelor of Arts and Science'' and ''Bachelor of Administration Science'' undergraduate degrees, also a ...

in Applied Management degree. It now offers a Bachelor of Applied Science in Diesel Technology degree and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Information Science and Application Development degree.

Athletics

The college's mascot is the Trailblazer and the athletics program includes teams for women's volleyball, men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's fast pitch softball and women's golf. These teams play in the

Northwest Athletic Conference The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), is a sports association for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, along with the Canadian prov ...

(NWAC).

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Community colleges in Washington (state) Education in Lewis County, Washington Education in Thurston County, Washington Educational institutions established in 1925 Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Centralia, Washington Buildings and structures in Lewis County, Washington 1925 establishments in Washington (state)