Pikes Peak Community College Centennial Campus

Pikes Peak State College 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 ''Öffentlichke ...

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 ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. It is the largest institution of higher education in the

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou Sprin ...

region. PPSC offers more than 150 programs in liberal arts and sciences transfer and career technical education. The college's 60+60 Bachelor's Degree Transfer Program guarantees transfer of the PPSC Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degrees to any public institution of higher education in Colorado. Students take two years of study at PPSC, then transfer as a junior to the four-year college or university of their choice.

History

Pikes Peak State College was originally founded as El Paso Community College in 1968 without an official college campus. In 1978 a new campus was constructed on surplus land on the northern edge of Fort Carson; at the same time the college name was changed to Pikes Peak Community College. During the 2022 Colorado legislative session, college administrators, along with state elected officials, introduced legislation to change the name of the college. The purpose of the bill was to change the perceived value of community colleges and to better reflect the broad range of degrees available. The bill was signed by

Colorado Governor The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either appr ...

Jared Polis which officially changed Pikes Peak Community College to Pikes Peak State College.

Campuses

Pikes Peak State College has three full-service campuses, three military satellite locations, and an extensive distance education program. The largest campus, the Centennial Campus, is located in southern Colorado Springs near the Fort Carson

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

post. The Downtown Studio Campus is located in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs, the Rampart Range Campus is located at the north end of the city. While students may study General Education (CORE) courses at all four campuses, certain programs are site specific. Centennial Campus is the largest, and offers all academic disciplines as well as several career and technical programs including an emergency medical services (EMS) training program with a state-of-the-art EMS simulation (SIM) Lab. Rampart Range Campus hosts some of the college's Health Sciences programs, including the Nursing Program, which includes a state-of-the-art Nursing SIM Lab. The Downtown Studio Campus is a hub for the fine arts programs. In 2008 the Falcon Campus was opened, but is no longer in service to the College. Three satellite education centers offer a variety of courses and programs at local Military bases. Courses for military education are held at various dates and times which are different from the traditional semester.

Notable alumni

Max Aaron Maxwell Theodore "Max" Aaron (born February 25, 1992) is an American former figure skater. He is the 2013 U.S. national champion, the 2015 Skate America champion, the 2011 U.S. national junior champion, and a three-time U.S. International Cl ...

, 2013 U.S. national champion figure skater * Dartanyon Crockett, 2014 judo World Champion * Alexa Scimeca, 2013 U.S. National silver medalist figure skater * Leslie Smith, professional

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

fighter competing in the bantamweight division, formerly with the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Ron Stallworth Ron Stallworth (born June 18, 1953) is an American retired police officer who infiltrated the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the late 1970s. He was the first African-American detective in the Colorado Springs Police ...

, police officer and author whose novel, Black Klansman, was turned into a film by Spike Lee

References

External links

Official website
* {{authority control Colorado Community College System Buildings and structures in Colorado Springs, Colorado Education in Colorado Springs, Colorado Education in El Paso County, Colorado Educational institutions established in 1968 1968 establishments in Colorado