North Seattle College (NSC or North Seattle) is a

public college A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

in the northwest

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, located in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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 ...

. It is one of three colleges comprising the Seattle Colleges District and part of the

Washington Community and Technical Colleges The Washington Community and Technical Colleges system consists of 34 public, two-year institutions of higher education which specialize in vocational, technical, worker retraining, and university transfer programs. Most of the member colleges award ...

system. Founded in 1970, NSC is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

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. ...

, and offers associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, university transfer, and certificate programs, as well as continuing education and college preparation programs. In March 2014, the board of trustees of the Seattle Community Colleges District voted unanimously to change the name of the district to "Seattle Colleges" and North Seattle Community College became ''North Seattle College''.

Academics

NSC programs include academic degrees, college prep and transfer, cross-disciplinary, continuing and senior adult education programs. NSC is also home to the Watch Technology Institute, the only two-year program in the art of Swiss

watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...

and technology in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States. NSC also provides Running Start, where high school juniors and seniors can take college classes to earn high school credits as well as college credits. Since 2010, as part of a new Washington State educational initiative, North Seattle College began offering Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree programs to students that have previously completed a two-year degree.

Campus

The North Seattle College main campus occupies , including of environmentally sensitive

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s, in the Licton Springs/North College Park neighborhood of the Northgate district of Seattle. Located at 9600 College Way North, the campus is north of the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

and is easily accessed from

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

and several

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

routes. NSC campus consists of various academic, athletics & supporting facilities: *The college's library was founded in 1970; as of 2017, it contains over 174,000 volumes (books, media, serials) in the physical and digital collection, along with 40 plus databases that provide access to many thousands of scholarly, popular, trade, and newspaper articles. *The Computer Lab facilities & laboratories *North Seattle Indoor Arena, Physical Education, gymnasium, fitness & wellness center *NSC Bookstore *NSC Art Gallery

Wetlands

The North Seattle College Wetlands sit at the South Fork of

Thornton Creek Thornton Creek is of urban creeks and tributaries from southeast Shoreline through northeast Seattle to Lake Washington. Its watershed, the largest in Seattle, exhibits relatively dense biodiversity for an urban setting;Brokaw it is home to f ...

and are important ecological lands for the Thornton Creek watershed as they work as a sponge to hold surge flows of water as well as filtering out pollutants. The wetlands serve as a critical habitat for many species including the Pacific Tree Frog and Long-toed salamander, as well as several species of avian and plant life. Bellybutton Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum Umbilicatum)

Bellybutton Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum Umbilicatum)

Currently, there is a system of crude trails that get you to and through most of the wetlands habitat. The main trail is a loop that walks around the northern part of campus. There are spurs that branch off of this main loop trail. An interpretive trail is in progress and a map is available with points of interest for those wishing to explore the wetlands further. Harefoot Mushroom

A wide variety of native and non-native plant species can be observed throughout the main campus and surrounding wetlands habitat. There are many mushrooms growing in and around the wetlands. Some notable species include Redlead Roundhead ('' Stropharia aurantiaca''), Harefoot Mushroom ('' Coprinopsis lagopus''), Fiber Caps (''Inocybe mixtilis''), Shaggy Parasol (''Chlorophyllum olvieri''), and Bellybutton Hedgehog (''Hydnum umbilicatum'').

Wetlands shrub life includes Snowberry Shrubs ('' Symphoricarpos albus''), Himalayan Blackberry ('' Rubus discolor''), Burning Bush (''Eunonymus alatus''), and Nootka Rose ''(Rosa Nutkana''). Campus and wetlands are also home to many plants such as Sumac (''Rhus Species''), Yarrow (''

Achillea millefolium ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

''), Sword Fern (''

Polystichum munitum ''Polystichum munitum'', the western swordfern, is an evergreen perennial fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns in forested areas. It occurs along the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to southern ...

''), and Common Horsetail ('' Equisetum arvense'').

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Universities and colleges in Seattle Community colleges in Washington (state) Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Educational institutions established in 1970 Libraries in Seattle

Academics

Campus

Wetlands

See also

References

External links