Columbia Basin College (CBC) is a public

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 59,781 at the 2010 census, and 75,432 as of the July 1, 2019 Census Bureau estimate. Pasco is one of three cities (the others b ...

. It is accredited by the

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...

. The college offers English as a second language and

General Educational Development The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

(GED) prep classes, the Running Start program, and many associate degrees (transfer, associate of applied science, associate of arts) and Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degrees.

History

Columbia Basin College has served Benton and Franklin counties for nearly 60 years. The first classes at CBC were authorized by the State Board of Education in May 1955. Classes began in September, 1955 in temporary quarters at the former Pasco Naval Airbase. The Pasco School District received title to more than of land for the present campus site in Pasco. CBC's first permanent building was completed in 1957 and was the V building which was replaced in 2011 by the Center for Career and Technical Education (CTE). The Community College Act of 1967 separated the College from the Pasco School District and CBC became the 19th community college district in the state of Washington. CBC continually expands and renovates programs which now includes Bachelor of Applied Science degrees. The enrollment of the College has grown from 299 students in 1955 to more than 8,000 students per quarter today. The faculty includes 140 full-time instructors and 300 part-time instructors.

Campus

CBC Health Science Center in Richland, Washington

The Pasco campus has seen substantial growth in the past decade, adding new facilities to accommodate the large demand for higher education from a growing community. Standout facilities include the Arts Center (P building), Lee R. Thornton Center for Science, Technology, and Diversity; Bechtel National Planetarium; Robert & Elisabeth Moore Observatory; the Center for Career and Technical Education (CTE); and a research farm. Recent infrastructure improvements include substantial remodels to the Hawk Union Building (HUB), Business building, the Library, the Science building, the Administration building, the Fitness Center, the athletic fields, and the I-Complex. The CBC Health Science Center is located in Richland,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, approximately 10 miles from the main campus. The four-story building was built in 2006 to house CBC's Health Sciences programs. The Wortman Medical Science Building on the Richland Campus and a new Social Sciences and World Language building opened on the Pasco campus in 2017.

Athletics

CBC is a member of the

Northwest Athletic Conference The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), is a sports association for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, along with the Canadian prov ...

(NWAC) and the mascot is the Hawk. CBC sports include: *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

*Men's and Women's Soccer *Men's and Women's

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

*Men's and Women's

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

Notable alumni

* Byron Beck, former NBA player * Steve Buratto, former CFL head coach * Darrell Ceciliani, current MLB outfielder *

Clint Didier Clinton Bradley Didier (born April 4, 1959) is a professional American football player and politician. He played for the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers, and later sought elected office on four occasions. Didier was finally elected to ...

, former NFL player * Ron East, former NFL player *

Doc Hastings Richard Norman Hastings (born February 7, 1941) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1995 until his retirement in 2015. The district includes much of central Washington inc ...

, former U.S. Representative * Mark Kafentzis, former NFL player * Dave McKay, former MLB player * Chad Orvella, former MLB relief pitcher * Leon Rice, current men's basketball head coach at Boise State *

Ray Washburn Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, former MLB player

Student life

Students enjoy a variety of activities and events that are hosted by CBC, the Associated Students of CBC (ASCBC), and various student clubs. The Theatre Arts Department produces multiple stage productions each year, the Music Department has multiple concerts each quarter, and the CBC Esvelt Gallery hosts multiple student and guest artist exhibits year-round. There is a game room located in the H building, which contains a

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

table, 2

ping pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

tables, and 1

foosball Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...

table. The library is located in the L building near the center of the campus.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Washington (state) Tri-Cities, Washington Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Pasco, Washington Two-year colleges in the United States Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Washington Education in Franklin County, Washington