The beginnings...

In 1966, Howard Community College was founded by the Board of Education in Howard County and formally authorized by the Howard County Commissioners.  That same year, HCC was approved as the State of Maryland's fourteenth community college.  A groundbreaking ceremony in 1969 began construction on 119 acres in the heart of a town called Columbia that at the time was just beginning to take shape.  In October 1970, the first classes took place in a new structure called the Learning Resources Center, now the James Clark Library Building, with just over 600 students attending classes in HCC's nine credit programs.

       Then ... 1970                                                   Now ... 2008

...of great things to come.

In 2006, HCC celebrated its 35th anniversary, with nearly 7,000 students seeking degrees in more than 100 programs, and another 14,000 taking noncredit classes through the Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development.  Some say that a spark was ignited with the 2000 unveiling of our Children's Learning Center, which now serves as a child care center and lab school for students in the Early Childhood Development Program.  In 2003, a new instructional building was completed... the English, Languages, and Business Building (ELB), which includes an inviting landscaped area now known as The Quad.  The new Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, opened in the fall of 2006, and our Student Services Building, completed in spring 2007, complete The Quad.

HCC will continue to seek resources to accommodate growth and change within the community so that we can deliver on our pledge: "You Can Get There From Here."

For more information, see the below links:

• Mission, Vision and Values
• HCC at a Glance
• HCC Databook
• Awards and Recognitions
• Profiles of "Getting There"
• Annual Report to the Community