Portland Community College


Portland Community College is a public community college in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state and serves residents in the five-county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Columbia counties. As of the 2021–2022 academic year, PCC enrolls more than 50,000 full-time and part-time students.

History

The college was founded in 1961 as an adult education program for the local public school system, operating out of the former Elementary School since 1959 and renamed Portland Community College in 1961. Voters approved the establishment of an independent district for the college in 1968. Amo DeBernardis, former assistant superintendent of Portland Public Schools, was the founding president of the school, serving from 1961 to 1979.
The Cascade Campus opened in North Portland in 1971, and the Rock Creek Campus opened in Washington County in 1976. The district passed a $374 million bond measure in 2008. PCC's $25 million Willow Creek Center opened in 2009 and earned a platinum LEED certification the next year. The Newberg Center opened in October 2011, replacing a temporary arrangement in use for the 2010–11 school year, in which PCC courses were offered at the Chehalem Cultural Center. The center's building is a LEED platinum-designed building, the first net zero higher education building in Oregon.

Facilities

There are four main campuses, which are larger facilities offering two-year degrees and a range of typical student services:
  • Sylvania, opened in the Far Southwest neighborhood of Portland in 1968 and serves over 26,000 students annually.
  • Rock Creek, a suburban campus, opened in 1976, near Hillsboro; it is also home to the Washington County Museum. It is about 12 miles west of downtown Portland.
  • Cascade, an urban campus, opened in 1971, and is located in North Portland.
  • Southeast, newly expanded and upgraded to a full-fledged campus in fall of 2014, originally in the former home of the local U.S. Corps of Engineers headquarters.
There are several centers throughout the Portland metropolitan area, which are smaller facilities offering more limited or specialized programs:
  • Continuous Learning for Individuals, Management and Business Center for Advancement, located near OMSI.
  • Portland Metropolitan Workforce Training Center.
  • Willow Creek Center, opened in 2009 in Hillsboro. It is located immediately adjacent to TriMet's Willow Creek Transit Center.
  • Hillsboro Center, which serves about 500 students and moved to the Hillsboro Intermodal Transit Facility in 2010.
  • Newberg Center, opened in fall 2011 and serving about 650 students.
In addition to classes held at campuses and centers, PCC partners with local business, schools, community centers, churches, and parks to offer classes in neighborhoods throughout the PCC district.

Athletics

Portland Community College competes in the Northwest Athletic Conference as the Panthers, with its men's and women's basketball teams competing against those from the community colleges of Chemeketa, Clackamas, Mount Hood, Lane, Linn-Benton, Southwestern Oregon, and Umpqua.
Image:TCB @ PCC.JPG|thumb|right|The Technology Classroom Building at PCC Sylvania|250px

Community education

Portland Community College offers hundreds of non-credit and continuing education unit classes each term through its lifelong learning community education program, which enrolls more than 25,000 students each year online and in-person across Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Columbia, and Yamhill counties.

Notable people

Alumni

  • Margaret Carter, the first African-American woman elected to Oregon state's legislature
  • Richard Curtis, politician from Washington state
  • Karen Gaffney, the first person with Down syndrome to complete a relay swim of the English Channel
  • Samantha Hess, owner and founder of the Certified Cuddlers Certification Program
  • Jon Hill, former White House Executive Chef
  • Matt Keeslar, actor
  • Christopher Loeak, President of the Marshall Islands
  • Nichole Mead, 2012 Miss Oregon
  • Rebecca Skloot, author
  • Marie Watt, contemporary artist
  • Jackie Winters, Oregon politician
  • Cameron Whitten, Occupy Portland organizer and community activist

    Faculty

  • Michael Dembrow
  • Lew Frederick
  • Ralph Friedman
  • Larry Galizio
  • Diana Schutz
  • Ralf Youtz

    National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium

The college hosts a NAFTC Training Center.