Clark College
Tel:
(360) 992-2000
- Clark College is a community college providing two-year transfer degree studies, technical training and basic skills classes to more than 12,500 full-time and part-time students each quarter. It is the third largest college in the Washington State system of 35 community and technical colleges.
School Highlights
Clark College serves 9,878 students (50% of students are full-time).
The college's student:teacher ratio of 29:1 is higher than the state community college average of 27:1.
Minority enrollment is 43% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is less than the state average of 53%.
Top Rankings
Clark College ranks among the top 20% of community colleges in Washington for:
- Category Attribute
- Community Size Largest student body
School Overview
The teacher population of 335 teachers has stayed relatively flat over five years.
| Clark College | (WA) Community College Avg. | |
| Carnegie Classification | Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges: Associate's Dominant | Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges: Associate's Dominant |
| Institution Level | Four or more years | Four or more years |
| Institution Control | Public | Public |
| Total Faculty | 335 staff | 157 staff |
Source: 2019 (or latest year available) IPEDS
School Notes
- Clark College was founded as a private, two-year junior college in 1933 and was granted initial accreditation in 1936-37 based upon a visit by a committee of five professors from the University of Washington. The college received accreditation from the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in 1948 and has maintained that standing through periodic reviews to the present. In 1951, an evening program began and the Applied Arts Center became the first building on the current 80-acre campus in Vancouver's Central Park. Student enrollment settled at around 4,800 through the late 1950s and early 1960s; then grew again to the 8,000 mark by the end of the 1970s reflecting a population surge in Clark County. A reduction in funding and a State-mandated lid kept enrollments level during the mid-1980s. The location of several major electronics firms and related-service industries in Clark County spurred strong economic growth, multiple employment opportunities for Clark's associate in applied science degree graduates, and boosted enrollments to nearly 11,000 students per quarter during the past 10 years. The main campus is located on an 80-acre arboretum in Vancouver's historic Central Park just east of the Interstate 5 freeway and north of the Columbia River and Fort Vancouver Historic Reserve. Classes are also offered at the Washington State University Vancouver branch campus in Salmon Creek and the Town Plaza Center satellite two miles east of the main campus. The establishment of a Washington State University branch campus in Vancouver in 1989 and creation of the Cooperative Agreement for Transfer (CAT) between Clark College and WSU Vancouver has attracted additional students to Clark for lower division studies leading to a transfer degree.
Nearby Schools
The nearest community college to Clark College is Carrington College-Portland (7.0 miles away).
- College Location Mi. Students
- Carrington College-PortlandPrivate for-profit234 students | 7.00 Mi2004 Lloyd Center, 3rd Fl.
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 761-6100 7.00234 - 404 students | 7.30 Mi1425 NE Irving Street, Bldg 300
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 281-4181 7.30404 - Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts-PortlandPrivate, for profit452 students | 8.00 Mi600 SW 10th Avenue, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 223-2245 8.00452 - 60,037 students | 14.10 Mi12000 SW 49th Avenue
Portland, OR 97219
(971) 722-6111 14.1060,037 - 28,000 students | 15.00 Mi26000 SE Stark St
Gresham, OR 97030
(503) 491-6422 15.0028,000
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