Big Bend Community College | Field Guide 2021

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Big Bend Community College (BBCC) is a Hispanic-Serving Institution with a mission to be our community’s first choice to dream, learn, and succeed. BBCC was founded in 1962 and serves a 4,600-square-mile service district in the central Columbia Basin. The college creates opportunities for students to succeed by offering a bachelor’s degree, college transfer, vocational and developmental education, community service and continuing education programs, along with student support services. Our strong partnership with local businesses and industries means our programs are tightly aligned to job opportunities.

Offering affordable and accessible programs, BBCC is primed to help new high school graduates, laid-off workers, seasoned employees, and future university students — all types of students count on BBCC to reinvent themselves.

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Key Facts

Highest Enrolled Programs

Academic Transfer
Nursing
Commercial Pilot
Early Childhood Education
Systems Administration
Medical Assistant
Industrial Systems Technology
Administrative Professional Services

Enrollment

Headcount (all sources): 4,030
FTES (all sources): 2,027
Headcount (state-funded): 2,760
FTES (state-funded): 1,448

Students in Selected Programs

I-BEST: 15
International: 7
Running Start: 453
Worker Retraining: 158

Student Profile

Type of Student

Academic/transfer: 36%
Basic skills: 15%
Other: 1%
Workforce education: 48%

Race/Ethnicity*

American Indian/Alaska Native: 3%
Asian: 3%
Black/African American: 2%
Hispanic/Latino: 48%
Pacific Islander: 1%
Other race: 1%
White: 53%

Attendance

Full-time: 60%
Part-time: 40%

Family and Finances

Students receiving need-based financial aid: 48%
Students who work: 45%
Students with children: 29%

Gender

Female: 55%
Male: 45%

Median age

Points of Interest

Workforce education

Big Bend completed construction on its new 25,000-square-foot facility that will house its Aviation Maintenance Technology program. Instruction should begin in the new facility during winter quarter 2021. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently selected Big Bend Community College’s Unmanned Systems program for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems-Collegiate Training Initiative (UAS-CTI), a new program that recognizes universities, colleges and technical schools that prepare students for careers in UAS or drones. Big Bend Community College’s Agriculture program is also set to expand winter quarter 2021, with the addition of a new Agricultural Mechanic training certificate and degree.

Student success

Big Bend issued 525 degrees during its first-ever virtual commencement ceremony in June 2020 — including 37 degrees to Running Start students. Also in 2020, 100% of BBCC’s nursing program graduates passed the NCLEX-RN licensure exam on their first attempt. The nursing program achieved a 100% pass rate during 12 of the last 13 years. In the past five years, more than 750 students earned their GED® or high school diploma equivalency through the college’s Transitional Studies programs. Big Bend’s new Open Doors program had 569 students enrolled during the 2019-20 academic year. Open Doors serves people who are 16 to 21 years old who have dropped out of school or are not expected to graduate from high school by the age of 21.

Continued growth

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges in October 2020 gave BBCC approval to move forward with its first applied bachelor’s degree program. The Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Applied Management degree will launch fall quarter 2021. Big Bend was also just awarded a $3 million federal Title V grant to assist Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) as they work to improve the academic attainment of low-income and Hispanic students, and to expand and enhance their academic offerings, program quality and institutional stability.

Data is from the 2019-20 academic year. Reflects headcount unless otherwise noted.

*May not add up to 100% because students may be counted in more than one race. Percentages calculated on reported value.