Hagerstown Community College (HCC) 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 ''Öffentlichk ...

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 se ...

in Hagerstown, Maryland. It was founded in 1946 as Maryland’s first community college. The campus encompassed eighteen buildings on .. The college hosts a business incubator, outdoor gardens, and an amphitheater.

Background

Hagerstown Community College was founded in September 1946 as Hagerstown Junior College. It was the first

in Maryland. At first, all of its classes were held in the evening at Hagerstown High School, with the majority of the students veterans of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

studying on the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

. In 1956, the college expanded to a new facility on the campus of South Hagerstown High School. This location, nicknamed the "Cracker Box" would prove to small for the expanding enrollment of the school. In 1965, construction started on a new campus on Robinwood Drive, with classes starting there in 1966. At this time enrollment had grown to 782 students. In 1998, the name of the school changed to Hagerstown Community College. Currently, 5000 students are enrolled on the . Atlee Kepler was appointed dean of the college in 1953 and president in 1961. Norman Shea, served as president from 1986 to 2002; Guy Altieri served from 2003 through 2017. Jim Klauber became the fourth president in June 2018. Along with USM Hagerstown, one of HCC's goals is to promote the economic development of Hagerstown and the surrounding community.

Academics

The school a two-year public

offering both transfer and career-oriented programs, as well as continuing education classes. Its accreditation is through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and has maintained that status since 1968. The college is a member of the

American Association of Community Colleges The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education building in Washington, D.C., is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely wit ...

. HCC offers more than one hundred programs of study and awards

associate degrees 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 ...

, certificates and letters of recognition. The college's incubator is meant to spur investment in the local community. The school held its first graduation in 1948 awarding twenty-five degrees. Since then, the school has had more than 175,000 students.

References

External links

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MACC
* {{authority control Two-year colleges in the United States Community and junior colleges in Maryland Universities and colleges in Washington County, Maryland Buildings and structures in Hagerstown, Maryland Universities and colleges established in 1946 1946 establishments in Maryland NJCAA athletics Education in Hagerstown, Maryland

Background

Academics

See also

References

External links