Academic Catalog

About The College

History

Highland Community College is a two-year co-educational public community college maintained by the Board of Trustees of Illinois Community College District No. 519 under the coordination of the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The College was established by the people of northwestern Illinois at a public referendum on October 1, 1966.

Freeport Community College, which was assimilated by the new district, was established by public referendum in November 1961 and opened its doors in September 1962. In June 1967, Freeport Community College became a part of the new Highland Community College. The Highland Community College district includes the high school districts of Dakota, East Dubuque, Eastland, Forrestville Valley, Freeport, Galena, Lena-Winslow, Orangeville, Oregon (Mount Morris), Pearl City, River Ridge, Scales Mound, Stockton, Warren, and West Carroll (Mount Carroll and Savanna).

Mission Statement

Highland Community College is committed to shaping the future of our communities by providing quality education and learning opportunities through programs and services that encourage the personal and professional growth of the people of northwestern Illinois. This Mission is carried out by:

  1. Providing educational preparation to students for transfer to a baccalaureate or professional degree-granting institution.
  2. Providing instruction to enable students to complete specific vocational degrees and certificates and general education designed to meet individual educational goals.
  3. Providing occupational training, retraining, and/or upgrading skills to meet individual, local, and state needs.
  4. Providing developmental education to strengthen students' academic skills.
  5. Providing a range of student support services that recognize and support the educational goals and needs of a diverse student population.
  6. Supporting economic development through partnerships with businesses, industry, chambers of commerce, units of local government, and other educational institutions.
  7. Providing community education designed to meet local cultural needs and encourage lifelong learning and cultural understanding.
  8. Providing community access as an open-door institution to all college services and facilities.

Vision

Highland Community College partners with learners to successfully shape their futures.

Core Values

Highland Community College is actively committed to the core values of Integrity, Compassion, and Respect.

Addressing the Communities' Needs

At Highland Community College, we are grounded in the purpose of mutual respect, ethics, integrity, honesty, and shared responsibility. Our Mission is built around meeting the needs of our greater northwest Illinois community through quality educational and cultural programs. We provide a range of student support services that recognize and meet the educational goals of a diverse student population. Our faculty and staff are expected to exhibit our core values of Integrity, Compassion, and Respect.

Accreditation, Institutional Memberships and Approval

Accreditation

Highland Community College is recognized by the Illinois Community College Board and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.1 The College is a participant in the Standard Pathway for accreditation. Highland Community College has also received a Level I - Commitment to Excellence award from the Lincoln Foundation for Business Excellence and an Excellence in Accountability award from the Illinois Community College Board.

1

Website: hlcommission.org; Phone: 800-621-7440

Institutional Memberships

The following list includes, but is not limited to, the state and national organizations of which Highland Community College is a member:

  • Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing
  • American Association of Community Colleges
  • Arrowhead Athletic Conference
  • Association for Institutional Research
  • Association of Community College Trustees
  • Association on Higher Education and Disability
  • Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association
  • College and University Personnel Association for Human Resources
  • Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
  • Council on Accreditation for Two-Year Colleges
  • Council for Higher Education Accreditation
  • Early Childhood Consortium
  • Higher Learning Commission
  • Honors Council of the Illinois Region
  • Illinois Association of College Stores
  • Illinois Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
  • Illinois Association of Institutional Research
  • Illinois Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
  • Illinois Community College Admissions and Records Officers Organization
  • Illinois Community College Chief Academic Officers
  • Illinois Community College Chief Student Services Officers
  • Illinois Community College Disability Services Professionals
  • Illinois Community College Faculty Association
  • Illinois Community College Student Activities Association
  • Illinois Community College Trustees Association
  • Illinois Community Colleges Online
  • Illinois Council for Continuing Education and Training
  • Illinois Council of Community College Administrators
  • Illinois Council of Community College Presidents
  • Illinois Council of Community Education and Training
  • Illinois Online Network
  • Illinois Professional Agricultural Student Organization
  • Illinois/Iowa Regional Chapter of the Association on Higher Education and Disability
  • Learning Resources Network
  • Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
  • National Academic Advising Association
  • National Association of Basketball Coaches
  • National Association of College Stores
  • National Association of Colleges and Employers
  • National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
  • National Career Development Association
  • National Council for Marketing and Public Relations
  • National Council for State Authorized Reciprocity Agreements
  • National Junior College Athletic Association
  • National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing
  • National Professional Agricultural Student Organization
  • National Student Employment Association
  • Network of Illinois Learning Resources in Community Colleges
  • Organization for Associate Degree Nursing
  • PrairieCat
  • Rural Community College Alliance
  • Society for Human Resource Management

Highland Community College Foundation

The Highland Community College Foundation was established in 1962 as a charitable, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation solely for the purpose of raising funds in support of Highland Community College. It is the first community college foundation in the State of Illinois and one of the first five established in the country.

Gifts to the HCC Foundation have benefited the College and its students for more than fifty years. Donor support helps in many ways, such as:

  • Scholarships for hundreds of students each year
  • Faculty and staff professional development
  • Equipment and supplies for classrooms
  • New buildings and educational facilities supported by comprehensive fundraising campaigns and private donations
  • Support of student academic activities and co-curricular programs
  • Assistance with campus and arboretum maintenance

If you are interested in making a charitable, tax-deductible gift to the HCC Foundation, visit our website. For more information on how you can make a difference in the lives of the students of Northwestern Illinois by donating to Highland Community College through the HCC Foundation, please contact:

Dan Dick, Executive Director
HCC Foundation
2998 West Pearl City Road
Freeport, Illinois 61032
815-599-3574 or 815-599-3413
foundation@highland.edu

Scholarships

Scholarship applications are available here. Most scholarship applications are posted on the website by February 1 of each year, with the majority having an April 1 priority deadline.

Thank you for supporting Highland Community College and its students through the HCC Foundation!

The Student Body

Highland Community College serves a district population of approximately 90,000 residents from the northwest Illinois counties of Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle, and Stephenson. The College grants admission to students from a wide range of backgrounds without regard to race, creed, sex, sexual orientation, color, disability, or national origin. Sixty-four percent of the students are women, and 36 percent are men. College students range in age from 15 to 75, with an average age of 24. The College serves an estimated 4,500 students each year, including more than 500 students enrolled in Community Education and Business Institute courses and 150 enrolled in Adult Education courses.

Many area high school graduates enter the College for full-time studies. Many of these students continue at a four-year institution after completing the first two years at Highland. Others are preparing for immediate employment after completing a planned education program. Still, others take advantage of the wide variety of coursework available through Highland's Business Institute and Lifelong Learning departments.

Student Preparedness

According to the Higher Learning Commission1, Highland Community College's accrediting body, higher education does more than train or certify skills. Higher education requires students not only to master a rigorous body of knowledge but also to conceptualize, analyze, and integrate. Additionally, higher education requires students to use their intellect, stimulates students to examine their values, teaches students the importance of considering divergent views as expressed in research, and challenges students to engage each other and their teachers in a free exchange of ideas.

The Illinois Community College System has developed the general education core curriculum to satisfy the breadth of study expected of college graduates. It is a core body of knowledge that all College-educated people share. It includes the skills and knowledge that are the basis of a college education. Students at Highland Community College are encouraged to embrace the challenge of learning in the arts and sciences as preparation for success in their declared majors.

Highland Community College is committed to quality in its transfer and occupational programs. To be successful in any of Highland's programs, students need to demonstrate college-level skills in reading, written communication, oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, critical thinking, and diversity. Transitional courses and academic support programs are in place to help students reach the levels necessary to succeed in the coursework of their choice.

1

Website: hlcommission.org; Phone: 800-621-7440