Highland Community 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 s ...

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linc ...

. The college is recognized by the

Illinois Community College Board The Illinois Community College System consists of 39 public community college districts, composed of 48 community colleges and one multi-college center (East St. Louis Community College Center) where 3 of the community colleges offer additional cl ...

and accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Io ...

History

Highland was first established in 1962 on the land purchased from the Taft family. The Highland Community college foundation was the first

foundation established in the State of Illinois and only the second in the nation. The foundation was established by Dr. Howard D. Sims, president of Highland Community College from 1975 to 1980.

Timeline

* 1955 State survey completed by the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

showed Freeport,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

was a logical location for a junior college. A legal requirement in preparation for a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

was satisfied. * 1957-1959 State legislation passed allowing public junior colleges to charge tuition. * 1959 Public defeated a referendum that would have included space for the college in the remodeled high school. * 1961 Referendum passed by a 3-1 margin calling for the establishment of a comprehensive community college. * 1962 229 students began evening classes held at the Freeport Senior High School. * 1964 $150,000 was raised for the Acres of Education campaign to purchase the Taft farm land. * 1966 Referendum held in 15 districts established an area college district. Facilities were rented and classes were held on Stephenson, Main, Locust, and West Ave. The first board was elected. * 1967 District 519 was officially established. Ken Borland was hired as the first president. A contest was held to name the college with "''Highland''" being chosen from among the submissions. * 1968 Voters approved a plan for the current campus. * 1970 Five temporary buildings were occupied on the permanent campus. * 1971 The first permanent facilities were occupied on the current campus. * 1973 Foundation approves $45,000 grant to the college for the Festival of Arts. * 1976 Phase III of the building program approved. Work began on the physical fitness education facility to be used jointly by Highland and the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Campus

Main campus

Highland is located in Freeport,

on 140

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

s (or 56.6 ha). There are seven buildings on the campus, which are mainly used for classes. The college's sports complex is also the local

, to which Highland's students who are carrying 12 or more credit hours a semester can receive a free membership.

Highland West

Highland Community College had a campus in

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

. On Route 20, Highland West offered residents of

Jo Daviess county Jo Daviess County () is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 22,678. Its county seat is Galena. Jo Daviess County is part of the Tri-State Area and is located near D ...

an easy commute to classes. Several classes could also be taken in

Savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...

. The off-site campuses mainly offered general education courses. In 2007, the Elizabeth campus started offering a Certified Nurse Assistant course. In a cost-cutting measure, the Elizabeth facility was closed in 2014.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Illinois Education in Stephenson County, Illinois Education in Jo Daviess County, Illinois Universities and colleges established in 1962 Vocational education in the United States Buildings and structures in Stephenson County, Illinois NJCAA athletics 1962 establishments in Illinois