Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC) is a
community college in
Oregon, serving students in
Lincoln County. Located in
Newport, OCCC has approximately 3,000 students and a faculty of 45 people. Of the 17 community colleges in Oregon, only
Klamath Community College is younger, and only
Tillamook Bay Community College has fewer students.
OCCC offers the only Aquarium Science Program in the
United States. The classes are taught at the nearby
Hatfield Marine Science Center, but a building is currently being built on the college's campus to teach this curriculum.
History
OCCC held its first classes in 1987, meeting in whatever spare space the staff could find. "You could be teaching in a church basement, fire station, real estate office," college president Patrick O'Connor recalled.Lori Tobias, "The little college that could",
The Oregonian 20 August 2006, B6. The following year, OCCC found a permanent home in a building formerly known as "Jake's High Tide Bar".
In 2004, local voters approved a $23.5 million
bond levy, which is being used to build three buildings between Newport and
Waldport. According to president O'Connor, the three buildings are necessary due to Lincoln County's size and treacherous driving weather during the winter months.
Aquarium science program
Oregon Coast Community College offers a degree program in
aquarium science, and is the only college in the United States to do so. There are two programs,...
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