Prince George's Community College has grown substantially from rather humble beginnings. In the fall of 1958 the school opened its doors for the first time, drawing just 71 full-time students and 114 part-timers to its afternoon and evening classes at Suitland High School.
Things changed fast. In 1967, the school and its 3,000-strong student body relocated to a permanent campus in Largo, Md., and two years later it got its own Board of Trustees for the first time.
Today, Prince George's Community College serves some 35,000 high school graduates and adult learners each year with more than 50 programs of study.
Transfer programs in a range of areas allow students to acquire course credits that can be easily transferred to a number of area four-year colleges and then applied toward the pursuit of a bachelor's degree. A few of the areas of study available include speech communication and theater, accounting, business administration, marketing, computer sciences, early childhood and teacher education, engineering, African-American studies and art and music.
The college also offers career programs to enhance the job skills of those currently employed, and to help others make a smooth transition into the region's work force. Areas of study include business management, computer information systems, emergency medical technology, forensic science and medical office management, to name a few.
The college works closely with the local business community to meet its ever-changing personnel needs. Specifically, the Center for Business and Industry Training (CBIT) offers customized education and training based on specific employer needs. Training is offered at the college or can be delivered on site.
Campus life reflects the broad ethnic and cultural diversity of the student body. Popular events and organizations include the annual Bluebird Blues Festival and annual Caribbean Festival, as well as the Metropolitan Ebony Theatre Company and the Ethiopian Student Association.
Students and faculty of the college have distinguished themselves in a range of areas in recent years.
In the summer of 2002, for example, a Prince George's Community College student won the Reynold Scholarship Award for her poem "After the After-Hours Club." The award comes with a financial prize, as well as publication in Nota Bene, the literary honors anthology of Phi Theta Kappa, which is the international honor society for two-year colleges.
That same summer a professor at the college was singled out at the 13th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning for honors in innovative teaching excellence. Chemistry professor Scott Sinex won recognition for his work on "Building Learning with Technology," a partnership between Prince George's Community College, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Prince George's County Public Schools, in which faculty and students work together to design technology-based teaching tools.
The school also has big plans for the future.
Long-term goals include the development of new campus sites, the expansion of the high-tech course curriculum and an increase in the number of full-time faculty in the most popular areas of study.
The college remains firmly on course as Prince George's County continues to emerge as a center of population growth and economic activity. The school has formed close ties with the commercial sector, area public schools and local colleges. These relationships help to ensure that future graduates of Prince George's Community College are well-positioned to continue their studies, enter the work world or improve upon their current career situation.
Things changed fast. In 1967, the school and its 3,000-strong student body relocated to a permanent campus in Largo, Md., and two years later it got its own Board of Trustees for the first time.
Today, Prince George's Community College serves some 35,000 high school graduates and adult learners each year with more than 50 programs of study.
Transfer programs in a range of areas allow students to acquire course credits that can be easily transferred to a number of area four-year colleges and then applied toward the pursuit of a bachelor's degree. A few of the areas of study available include speech communication and theater, accounting, business administration, marketing, computer sciences, early childhood and teacher education, engineering, African-American studies and art and music.
The college also offers career programs to enhance the job skills of those currently employed, and to help others make a smooth transition into the region's work force. Areas of study include business management, computer information systems, emergency medical technology, forensic science and medical office management, to name a few.
The college works closely with the local business community to meet its ever-changing personnel needs. Specifically, the Center for Business and Industry Training (CBIT) offers customized education and training based on specific employer needs. Training is offered at the college or can be delivered on site.
Campus life reflects the broad ethnic and cultural diversity of the student body. Popular events and organizations include the annual Bluebird Blues Festival and annual Caribbean Festival, as well as the Metropolitan Ebony Theatre Company and the Ethiopian Student Association.
Students and faculty of the college have distinguished themselves in a range of areas in recent years.
In the summer of 2002, for example, a Prince George's Community College student won the Reynold Scholarship Award for her poem "After the After-Hours Club." The award comes with a financial prize, as well as publication in Nota Bene, the literary honors anthology of Phi Theta Kappa, which is the international honor society for two-year colleges.
That same summer a professor at the college was singled out at the 13th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning for honors in innovative teaching excellence. Chemistry professor Scott Sinex won recognition for his work on "Building Learning with Technology," a partnership between Prince George's Community College, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Prince George's County Public Schools, in which faculty and students work together to design technology-based teaching tools.
The school also has big plans for the future.
Long-term goals include the development of new campus sites, the expansion of the high-tech course curriculum and an increase in the number of full-time faculty in the most popular areas of study.
The college remains firmly on course as Prince George's County continues to emerge as a center of population growth and economic activity. The school has formed close ties with the commercial sector, area public schools and local colleges. These relationships help to ensure that future graduates of Prince George's Community College are well-positioned to continue their studies, enter the work world or improve upon their current career situation.