Olympic 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 ...

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

. It opened as Olympic Junior College on September 5, 1946. Olympic College serves Kitsap and Mason counties in Washington. The college's service area contains two major

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inclu ...

installations:

Naval Base Kitsap Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout ...

and Naval Hospital Bremerton.

History

Olympic College has attracted dignitaries and well-known performers during its history.

Harry S Truman Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

, the 33rd President of the United States, visited Bremerton and Olympic College (then known as Olympic Junior College) in 1948. He received the first honorary degree from the college that year. In 2015, Olympic College was named as one of ten finalists for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation's preeminent recognition of high achievement and performance in America's community colleges. For their inaugural season in 2012, the

Kitsap Admirals The Kitsap Admiral Basketball Club is a semi-professional international feeder program that is based in Bremerton, Washington. It was established in 2011 by former semi-pro basketball player Ashley D. Robinson. History On Dec. 19, 2011, the Kitsa ...

used the Bremer Student Center as their home venue. The team has since relocated to more suburban Silverdale at Olympic High School.

Academics

The college offers bachelor's degrees. Through partnerships with local universities like Washington State University and Western Washington University, students can also complete an associate degree with Olympic College then transfer into a partner program to earn a bachelor's degree without having to leave Kitsap County.

Campus

The college's main campus is a site located in

, and its two satellite campuses are located in Poulsbo and

Shelton, Washington Shelton is a city in, and the county seat of, Mason County, Washington, United States. Shelton is the westernmost city on Puget Sound. The population was 10,371 at the 2020 census. Shelton has a council–manager form of government and was the ...

. The Poulsbo campus is a site and is from the main campus, while the Shelton campus is located from the main campus. These three campuses serve more than 12,000 students a year mainly from the 281,374 residents of Kitsap and Mason counties spread over of wooded and lowland mountain terrain (Census 2000). The land for both the Shelton and Poulsbo campuses was donated. The 27 acres of land that is now the Shelton campus was donated by Simpson Timber in 1991 and the 20 acres of land that is now the Poulsbo campus was donated by the Olhava Family in 1993.

Enrollment

The student body is predominantly full-time (59%), between the ages of 20–29 (37.7%), and slightly more female than male (56% female). At 73% white, the student body is more diverse than the two counties in which its campuses are located (Kitsap 84% white, Mason 89%), and is more like

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

(70% white) in

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

, which is an hour's ferry ride from Bremerton across the waters of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 47, 34, 36, N, 122, 38, 10, W, format=dms, display=title, type:edu_region:US-WA Bremerton, Washington Community colleges in Washington (state) Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Educational institutions established in 1946 Education in Kitsap County, Washington Buildings and structures in Kitsap County, Washington 1946 establishments in Washington (state)