Bucks County Community College
Newtown, Pennsylvania
THE COMMUNITY'S COLLEGE
Our Philosophy
Bucks County Community College is committed to the concept that everyone in
our society should have the opportunity to develop his or her greatest potential. To
that end, we provide to all members of the community a high quality, affordable,
first two years of post-secondary education and a wide variety of educational
experiences and opportunities which will enrich their lives, advance their careers,
and enable them to become more responsible citizens.
Our Mission in the Community
The College touches the lives of many county residents through activities on the
main campus and off-campus sites. Our open door policy encourages all who wish
to obtain an education to do so; we affirmatively recruit students from all racial,
ethnic, cultural, and economic segments of the county population. The College is
responsive to the economic and training needs of Bucks County.
Bucks County Community College offers:
- A wide selection of courses which transfer to four year colleges for students
working toward a bachelor's or higher degree
- Programs in technical and occupational fields for students seeking
meaningful jobs as well as career advancement
- Cultural, social, intellectual, and recreational programs in addition to
academic courses for those who seek personal enrichment
- Courses designed to improve basic skills for students who are not prepared to
do college-level work
- Courses for capable high school students in advance of graduation.
Our Educational Program
Bucks County Community College combines traditional and academic disciplines
with flexible educational programs preparing students for a future of technological
and social change.
Education at Bucks County Community College provides:
- Quality instruction offered by a highly competent faculty
- Knowledge of specific subject areas and their contributions to society and
culture; o courses which develop students' abilities to think and write critically and
to compute with proficiency and confidence
- Facilities and resources that reflect the latest technology; o a variety of
educational offerings: credit and non-credit courses, workshops, lecture series, and
special events; a program of assessment which places students in courses
consistent with their abilities
- Student services, such as counseling, financial aid, and job placement, which
help students to reach personal goals; a community of students of diverse ages and
experience; a center for community services and cultural activities
- An environment which encourages lifelong intellectual development.
College History
Bucks County Community College was
founded in 1964 in response to a need for
a public two-year collegiate institution to
serve graduates of the county's high schools
and other citizens of Bucks County who
would benefit from an experience in higher
education.
The initial proposal for a Community
College was developed and presented to
the public in 1963 by the then Office of
the Bucks County Superintendent of
Schools. Subsequently, the Bucks County
School Directors Association, urged the
Bucks County Board of Commissioners in
1964 to become the sponsor of the proposed school under the provisions of Act
848 (the Community College Act).
The Board of Commissioners unani-
mously agreed to sponsor the College in a
legal resolution adopted lune 22, 1964.
The Pennsylvania State Board of Education approved the proposal in September
and a 15 member Bucks County Community College Board of Trustees was
appointed October 5, 1964, by the county
commissioners.
The site for the College was determined
three months later, when Bucks County acquired, from Temple University, 200
acres of the former 2,000 acre Tyler Estate in
Newtown Township. The Estate had been
bequeathed to the University two years earlier by Mrs. Stella Elkins Tyler, a
sculptress
and patron of the arts who was a trustee of
Temple University for 20 years.
Most graduates of the College's transfer programs have attended Pennsylvania's
four-year colleges or other State-related
institutions. Other graduates of the College have gone on to pursue their studies at
more than 300 other four-year institutions
in forty-five states as well as the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Germany, France,
Great Britain and Sweden.
For more information on the college visit their PAGE
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