Big Bend Community College | Field Guide 2023

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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.

Key Facts

Highest Enrolled Programs

Academic Transfer
Commercial Pilot
Early Childhood Education
Aviation Maintenance

Enrollment

Headcount (all sources): 3,219
FTES (all sources): 1,556
Headcount (state-funded): 2,442
FTES (state-funded): 1,102

Students in Selected Programs

Applied bachelor's: 30
International: 1
Running Start: 459
Worker Retraining: 102

Student Profile

Type of Student

Academic/transfer: 42%
Basic skills: 19%
Workforce education: 28%
Other: 12%

Race/Ethnicity*

Students of color: 57%

American Indian/Alaska Native: 2%
Asian: 3%
Black/African American: 2%
Hispanic/Latino: 51%
Pacific Islander: 1%
White: 56%

Attendance

Full-time: 50%
Part-time: 50%

Family and Finances

Students receiving need-based financial aid: 22%
Students with dependents: 45%

Gender

Female: 55%
Male: 45%

Median age

Points of Interest

First BAS cohort set to graduate

Big Bend’s first cohort of its new Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management program will graduate this spring with 25 students on deck to receive the college’s first ever conferred applied bachelor’s degrees. Students began their journey in fall of 2022 in the program after conversations between local industry and BBCC showed a need for workers with more extensive management training. The custom program was created to meet the demand. Students will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to enter and advance in management or supervisory positions, or start their own business. Classes can be taken 100% online, which is perfect for working adults who need more flexibility in their schedules and have a job and/or family responsibilities.

Breaking down barriers

Big Bend Community College has been working hard to remove the transportation barriers for prospective students who live in smaller, rural cities on the borders of the BBCC service districts. ESL, GED®, and now college-level programs are being offered in new physical spaces in towns like Mattawa, Othello and Quincy in partnership with local governments and school districts.

New programs

Beginning in winter 2023, Big Bend Community College is scheduled to launch a new Manufacturing Process Technology program that will teach skills in CNC Technology, Computer Aided Manufacturing, Computer Aided Design, and Workflow Process that will help students earn industry-recognized credentials.

Data is from the 2021-22 academic year. Reflects headcount unless otherwise noted.

*Students of color percent based on unduplicated headcount. Students may be counted in more than one race, so race/ethnicity percentages may not total 100%. Percentages calculated on reported value.