Highline College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Des Moines, Washington Des Moines ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 32,888 as of the 2020 census. The city is located on the east shore of Puget Sound, near the center of the Seattle metropolitan area. It is bordered by the ...

. Highline was founded in 1961 as the first community college in

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

. The main campus covers . , there were approximately 17,000 students and 350,000 alumni of the college.

History

Highline College was founded in 1961 as the first

in King County. The current campus in Des Moines was built in 1964 with additional buildings added in following years to meet student and technology needs. The school was known as Highline College until 1967 when the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, w ...

passed the Community College Act of 1967, and the name became Highline Community College. In June 2014, Highline's board of trustees voted to change the name back to Highline College. Starting in the fall of 2014, Highline was approved to offer four Bachelor of Applied Science degree programs. Classes are also offered at the Marine Science and Technology (MaST) Center at

Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Santa Mo ...

and additional service-area locations such as Burien and White Center.

Demographics

The demographics of Highline are diverse due to both the local population and the acceptance of international students. , 23% of all students were categorized as

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 20% are Asian, 1% are

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 20%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 12%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

/ Latino, less than 1% Native American, and 12% are

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

. The total number credit and non-credit students was 15,375, while 71% of those are credit students. The student body was 60% female and 40% male.

Accreditation

The college 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. ...

. Its Nursing program is accredited by

National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. The Respiratory Care program is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. The Medical Assistant program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and the Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants Endowment. The Paralegal program is approved by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

Foundation

The Highline College Foundation was established in 1972 as a non-profit organization to help raise funds to improve the quality of education at Highline College. The Foundation often holds events and allows donations to be made in an effort to raise funds. With a donation of $500 the Foundation allows individuals or groups to create their own fund that others may donate to. Both students and faculty members can take advantage of the Foundation, through scholarships and grants respectively.

MaST

The Marine Science and Technology Center (MaST) is located approximately ten minutes south of the Highline College campus at Redondo Beach Park, and promotes the understanding of the South Puget Sound ecosystem. A new facility, large and situated on a pier, opened in 2008.

Athletics

Highline College competes in 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 along with the Canadian province ...

(NWAC) as the Thunderbirds, fielding men's and women's teams for basketball, soccer, and golf, and women's teams for softball, tennis and volleyball.

CWU-Des Moines

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, United States. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academi ...

has a campus facility located on Highline College's campus. There is a partnership between the schools that allows students to take classes from both Highline and CWU concurrently. Both bachelor's and master's degrees programs are available along with certification programs.

Notable alumni

* Brandon Brown - professional basketball player *

Anthony Hamilton (fighter) Anthony Hamilton (born April 14, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, Hamilton has also formerly competed for the UFC, MFC, and was the MFC ina ...

- NJCAA All-American wrestler; professional professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

Ann Rule Ann Rae Rule (''née'' Stackhouse; October 22, 1931 – July 26, 2015) was an American author of true crime books and articles. She is best known for '' The Stranger Beside Me'' (1980), about the serial killer Ted Bundy, her co-worker and one-ti ...

- true crime writer *

Norm Rice Norman Blann Rice (born May 4, 1943) is an American politician who served as the List of mayors of Seattle, 49th mayor of Seattle, Washington, serving two terms from 1990 to 1997. Rice was Seattle's first elected African-American mayor. Early l ...

- Mayor of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

from 1989 to 1997. Rice attended Highline before transferring to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. * Alexis Denisof - actor *

Jens Pulver Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. In 2023, Pulver was inducted into the UFC hall of fame. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in ...

- professional mixed martial artist * Trevor Smith - NJCAA All-American (2002); professional

* Brian Scalabrine - professional basketball player and analyst for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Washington (state) Universities and colleges established in 1961 Universities and colleges in King County, Washington Seattle metropolitan area Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities 1961 establishments in Washington (state) Two-year colleges in the United States