Wednesday, February 8, 2012
With numerous services, more than 50 college programs, a riverfront campus and downright beautiful prices, Kankakee Community College is the area’s educational solution for more than 3,500 students each year.
Here are some basics about KCC:
• Cost — At approximately $3,500 per year for tuition, fees and books, KCC costs are about one-fourth the price of public universities in Illinois.
The college offers transfer programs to complete the first two year’s of a bachelor’s degree, occupational programs to prepare for immediate entry into the workplace, and advanced certificates and certificates to meet requirements within a profession.
Each year, KCC offers two 16-week semesters, plus six- and eight-week summer sessions.
The college also offers a growing number of online and “hybrid” online classes. The hybrid courses include online and a classroom or lab requirements.
• To search online for courses: visit http://connect.kcc.edu and choose “Search for Credit Classes.” No login is needed to search for classes. There are choices to narrow your options, including subject, term, and — near the end of the page — location, which includes online.
• Financial aid: Among students enrolled in KCC’s credit division during the 2006-07 academic year, 2,155 (51.4 percent) received financial awards in the form of KCC scholarships or awards from federal, state and other sources. The average amount per student was $2,008.
The KCC Foundation scholarship program awards scholarships each academic year. Work study program and loans from federally or privately funded sources also are available.
Most KCC classes have 12 to 20 students.
For the 2009-10 school year, the college has five new programs: agriculture transfer, horticulture, chiropractic assistant, cosmetology and physical therapist assistant.
Although 32 percent of first time KCC students during the 2008-09 academic year were over age 25, about one-fourth of all high school graduates in the college district attend KCC.
The transfer programs fulfill the general education requirements and some major-specific prerequisites at all Illinois state universities and many private colleges and universities. Students who complete these programs and graduate from KCC enter the senior institution at the junior level.
• Locations: KCC’s main campus at 100 College Drive, off River Road, south of Kankakee. A satellite location is in Iroquois County at 1001 E. Grant St. in Watseka and KCC courses and there are a number of other locations where KCC courses are located. The college also operates an Education and Employment Center at 202 N. Schuyler Ave., Suite 201 in Kankakee.
Another option at KCC is corporate and continuing education, offered through the office of the same name. Corporate and continuing education includes courses which can award continuing professional development units (CEUs) for those in fields including health care and nursing. It also includes career training in some specialty areas, such as pharmacy technicians, and a Small Business Development Center.
A number of courses in personal development topics from painting to safe boating also are offered.
Another division of the college offers adult education, including English as a Second Language, literacy, basic education, high school-level courses and GED preparation.
• For more information: phone (815) 802-8100. For registration and advisement, phone (815) 802-8500. The KCC Web site is www.kcc.edu.