Founded in 1965 as Arapahoe Junior College with an enrollment of 550 students, Arapahoe Community College (ACC) was the first community college to open in the Denver, Colo., area. Today, the college has a main campus in Littleton, and two satellite campuses in Parker and Castle Rock, with a total enrollment of more than 21,000 credit and non-credit students each year.
Arapahoe is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Arapahoe Community College
Academics
As a community college, Arapahoe prides itself on providing flexible options for different kinds of students — working students, typical undergraduates, adult students, and others. ACC offers more than 100 degrees and certificates, day and evening classes and more than 300 online classes. The average traditional class size at Arapahoe is 16 students.
At ACC, you can choose from among six different Associate in Arts options: the core AA degree, Business Transfer Emphasis, Creative Writing Course of Study, Statewide Elementary Education Transfer, Early Childhood Education Plan of Study, and Music Emphasis. The college also offers a core Associate of Science degree and an Associate of Science degree in Secondary Mathematics Education.
You can also earn an Associate of General Studies degree, and ACC offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in 28 different disciplines ranging from accounting to telecommunications technology.
Students may also take a large number of occupational certificate programs, which are meant to prepare students for employment. These programs consist of major courses and general education courses. The certificate programs are not designed as transfer courses to four-year institutions, although some might be accepted by other colleges and universities. Students in these programs receive certificates upon completion. Highlights include green training, a registered nursing refresher program, a broadband technology certificate, and even a search engine marketing professional certificate.
ACC’s Desire2Learn program offers a large menu of online and hybrid classes for students who prefer to learn online. The program includes extensive support and online tutorials.
The ACC campus library houses more than 43,000 print books and periodicals, 10,000 electronic books, and collections of audio books, music CDs, videos and DVDs. More than 200 books in the library are available on Amazon Kindles, and students can check out the library’s collection of iPads and laptops for two weeks. Library assistance and resources are also available online, on Twitter, and by email. The campus library offers wireless Internet access.
There is wireless Internet access throughout the ACC campus, and an open computer lab with more than 60 desktop computers for use by students. Courses using cutting-edge technology include AutoCad, Multimedia/Graphic Design, and Illustration.
Arapahoe’s Student Success Center provides free academic support in the form of peer mentoring/tutoring, a one-on-one Writing Center, and math support from ACC faculty. And the ACC Office of Academic Advising helps students plot out their academic progress and degree requirements, and provides weekly and semester planning guides.
From May through August, ACC offers an extensive Community Education Program for the community-at-large, including classes in business, computer applications, dance, drawing, painting, GED test preparation, language and culture, music and theater, personal finance, photography, and writing. Additional classes are made available to senior citizens and youngsters in grades three through 12.
Most Popular Fields of Study
The top 5 fields of study completed at Arapahoe Community College.
ACC applications are available online, and some students may be able to apply previous work for credit, depending on courses they’ve taken and previous colleges they might have attended. Some students might also get credit for life experiences as part of their admission to Arapahoe.
If you’d like to see the Arapahoe campus in advance, you can schedule a tour and information session online. A full calendar is available on the ACC website, and tour times are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Campus visits include enrollment presentations and campus tours and take about one hour. High school guidance counselors are also welcome to schedule group tours of the campus.
Financial Aid
Grants available to students who attend ACC include the Colorado State Grant, available to Colorado students with financial need and can reach a maximum of $5,000 per year; the Leverage Education Assistance Program for Colorado students with exceptional financial need; the Federal Pell Grant; and the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant for students with great financial need.
Scholarships offered by Arapahoe include the ACC Accounting Scholarship, the ACC Connect Scholarship, the ACC Foundation Board of Directors Scholarship, the ACCSTEM Scholarship for biology, chemistry, math, and physics students, the ACC Writers Studio Scholarship, the Art Faculty Scholarship, the Campus Police Scholarship, the College Launch Scholarship, the Computer Network Technology Scholarship, the Dr. Karen Cline–Lane Memorial Scholarship, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship, the Ellie and Manny Greenberg Scholarship, the Energy Technology Scholarship funded by Xcel Energy, the Mark J Smith Scholarship, the President’s Scholarship, and more. Some scholarships are based on financial need, although most are based on academic merit and special talents in specific study areas.
The Arapahoe Community College Foundation also awards more than 50 private scholarships each year, ranging from $200 to $3,500. In the 2010-2011 academic year, the ACC Foundation awarded about $100,000 to ACC students.
Student Financial Aid Details
How many students use Financial Aid, and how much do they use?
Arapahoe Community College 4403rd for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best Colorado scholarships and financial aid
Of the 7,085 students who attend ACC, approximately 28 percent attend classes on a full-time basis and another 72 percent attend classes part time. The average age of ACC students is 28.2 years. About 95 percent of the students attending ACC live in the state of Colorado.
To encourage students to become involved in student life while at Arapahoe, the community college offers 26 student clubs and organizations, including an Alchemy Society, an Art Club, a Disc Golf Club, the Diversity Student Union, an Equality Club, Writers Studio club, and a Spanish Club. Students in good standing can run for ACC’s Student Government, which is responsible for activities and events planning, and is represented on the ACC Parking Committee, the President’s Advisory Council, the Student Affairs Committee, and the Marketing Steering Committee.
ACC also has an active chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the national honors organization for associate degree students. To be eligible for Phi Theta Kappa, students must have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher at ACC, have completed at least 12 credit hours, and obtain a letter of recommendation from a faculty member.
ACC is proud of its Colorado Gallery of the Arts, located at the Littleton Campus’ Annex building, which holds regular exhibitions of local, regional and national artists and mounts about 10 shows a year. Art students attending the college are also able to participate in Fine Art, Multimedia Graphic Design and Illustration, Interior Design and Architecture, and Clay and Jewelry exhibitions.
The ACC bookstore, located in the Main Bulding, supplies students with textbooks, software, ACC apparel, study supplies and gifts. There is also a textbook buyback program, and students can shop online at the bookstore.
The ACC cafeteria, bookstore and library are all centrally located in the campus’s four-floor main building.
You can also work as an ACC Student Ambassador, working at front desks, answering phones, conducting campus tours, promoting student activities, following up with prospective students, and other responsibilities designed to promot the public image of the college. Ambassadors go through an interview process and are paid with ACC work-study funds.
Student Enrollment Demographics
How many students are enrolled at Arapahoe Community College?
The Arapahoe Community College athletics program is somewhat limited, but the Coyotes do have two intercollegiate sports programs at ACC —men’s baseball and women’s softball. Intramural sports at ACC include men’s and women’s cross-country skiiing, men’s and women’s downhill skiing, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s volleyball.
Bibliography
Arapahoe Community College in Colorado: Littleton, Parker, and Online. Arapahoe Community College. Web. 18 June 2011.
“Arapahoe Community College Athletics – Littleton, Colorado – Undergraduate Search at Petersons.com.” Peterson’s – Your Comprehensive Guide to College Information. Peterson’s. Web. 18 June 2011.
Campus Crime Statistics
Ranks 4th in Colorado and
68th overall
on StateUniversity.com‘s Safe School Index
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Littleton, CO 80160-9002
p. 303-797-4222
w. www.arapahoe.edu