Whatcom Community College (WCC or Whatcom) 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 ...

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

, in

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan Cou ...

. Established in 1967, Whatcom has been accredited by 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. ...

since 1976.

Academics

Whatcom offers transfer degrees, professional and technical training programs, basic education, job skills,

online courses Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and Education sciences, educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edt ...

, and Community & Continuing Education classes.

Student demographics

Demographics

* 56% female; 44% male * 68% between the ages of 16–24 * 76% from Whatcom County (of students 20 and younger) * 53% attending full-time (12 credits or more) * 21% students of color (of degree/certificate seeking students) * 42% first-generation (of degree/certificate seeking students)

Student profiles

* 6,832 credit seeking students annually * 1,110 Running Start students annually (569 FTE) * 300+ international students from 30 countries * 239 veterans annually * 4,056 Community & Continuing Education students annually

Campus

WCC's 72-acre campus, located in north Bellingham, is made up of 12 buildings: Auxiliary Services Building, Baker Hall, Cascade Hall, Foundation Building, Health Professions Education Center, Heiner Center, Kelly Hall, Kulshan Hall, Laidlaw Center, Pavilion, Roe Studio, and Syre Student Center.

Athletics

WCC competes in the Northern Region of 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). WCC has intercollegiate teams in three sports: men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball and men's and women's basketball. Soccer and volleyball seasons begin in September and end in late November. Basketball begins in mid-November and runs through the end of February. All of the Orcas' home games are held in either the Pavilion or the Orca athletic field on campus.

Honors

In October 2014, the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

and

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

designated Whatcom Community College as a national center of academic excellence in information assurance and cyber defense. WCC is among the first community colleges in the nation to earn this distinction. Whatcom Community College was one of three schools to receive the Progress and Succeed Award from Hobsons, an education software and services company, in July 2014. The award recognized WCC for using the company's online student advising and support technology, which replaces manual processes and integrates degree planning, advising, and scheduling. According to the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

, WCC was among the nation's top 150 community colleges. The

non-profit institute A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

selected the colleges from a pool of more than 1,000 public two-year colleges that have demonstrated exceptional levels of student success. As of 2014, of

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

's 34 community and technical colleges, Whatcom is one of six to receive this recognition. WCC's auxiliary services building earned

LEED Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

certification for its

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

elements. The building, which opened in spring 2013, is home to the campus facilities department and the copy, print and mail center. During a high-profile

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

cybersecurity meeting in August 2021, WCC announced they have been designated one of the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

(NSF) Advanced Technological Education National Cybersecurity Centers. This will allow students to be fast tracked from academics to employment in cybersecurity and to train WCC's cybersecurity faculty.

References

{{authority control Community colleges in Washington (state) Universities and colleges in Bellingham, Washington Educational institutions established in 1967 Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges in Whatcom County, Washington