Seattle Central College Profile
About Seattle Central College
Established in 1966 as Seattle’s first community college, Seattle Central has grown into a thriving center for higher education in the heart of Washington’s largest city. While Seattle Central’s home is the vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood, the college’s perspective is global, with the nation’s sixth-largest community or technical college international program, hosting more than 1,000 students from around the world each year.
Seattle Central is proud to be one of the most diverse educational institutions in Washington state, attracting more than 10,000 students each year and representing a multitude of ages, races, nationalities, ethnicities, and backgrounds.
The college offers a range of programs, certificates, and degrees—including selected bachelor’s degrees—serving the career goals of students and the needs of employers in culinary arts, apparel design, visual arts, information technology, maritime, health care, and social and human services. All programs provide real-world, hands-on training from instructors who stay current with industry trends.
Seattle Central currently offers bachelor's degree in the following programs:
- Applied Behavioral Science Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS)
- Community Health and Education BAS
- Dental Hygiene BAS
- Health Care Services Management BAS
- Respiratory Care BAS
Seattle Central’s main campus on Capitol Hill is easily reached by public transportation, with light rail connecting the campus to other parts of the city, including the University of Washington. Seattle Central also operates three specialized Training Centers in other locations across the city.
Specialized Training Centers
https://healthcare.seattlecentral.edu/health-education-center
Seattle Central’s Health Education Center offers a variety of intensive, hands-on training programs that prepare students for successful health care careers. Occupying five floors of the historic Pacific Tower on Beacon Hill, the center contains facilities that include modern labs equipped with the latest health care technology, providing a real-world training environment. With day, evening, and hybrid classes, students have the flexibility to enroll in certificate, associate degree, and bachelor’s degree programs in Dental Hygiene, Respiratory Care, Nursing, Surgical Technology, Health Care Services Management, and more.
https://maritime.seattlecentral.edu/
Seattle Maritime Academy’s focus is as a Professional Technical school helping supply the industry with confident and competent middle-rate mariners to fill vital roles across all sectors of the maritime industry, from ferries to fishing vessels, tugboats to tankers. The academy supports the Pacific Northwest in preparing students for in-demand, living-wage jobs. Its leading-edge facility—featuring simulator labs, technical classrooms, a computer lab, and collaborative workspace—is located on the working waterfront of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. There, the academy offers certificate programs in Marine Deck Technology and Marine Engineering Technology as well as community education training in a variety of marine-related subjects. Seattle Maritime Academy is a U.S. Coast Guard-approved training program that satisfies federal maritime requirements. It also provides professional development, customized training, and skill-building classes to private-sector companies, government agencies, military units, and unions.
https://woodtech.seattlecentral.edu/
Seattle Central has a long history of providing high quality technical instruction in woodworking and the building trades. In 2012, the Wood Technology Center opened its new campus in the heart of Seattle's Central District. This state-of-the-art training facility is the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Programs include carpentry, boatbuilding and repair, residential construction, and pre-apprenticeship construction training—all with core training in safety, skills, tools, and materials. Students can earn associate degrees or a series of skill-specific certificates.
Additional Information
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Accreditation and State Board Membership
Seattle Central College is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education.
Seattle Central College is among 34 public community and technical colleges in Washington state that are members of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). The SBCTC is governed by a nine-member, governor-appointed board and is responsible for administering the Community and Technical College Act.
Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Our Mission
As an open-access learning institution, Seattle Colleges prepares each student for success in life and work, fostering a diverse, engaged, and dynamic community.
Our Vision
Seattle Colleges is recognized as an exemplary learning institution that transforms lives, promotes equity, and enriches the community.
Our Values
- Accessibility for all learners and partners
- Collaboration through open communication and commitment to working together
- Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity for all individuals, particularly the underserved in our community
- Fiscal Sustainability for long-term viability and excellence in service and operations
- Growth and Engagement of faculty and staff through professional development
- Innovation in instruction, student services, operations, and organizational culture
- Integrity by adhering to the highest standards of ethics and public stewardship
Our Leadership
The president serves as the top executive and leader of Seattle Central College.
Seattle Central College is part of Seattle Colleges, a multi-college district that also includes North Seattle College and South Seattle College. The three college presidents report to the chancellor, who serves as the chief executive officer for Seattle Colleges. The three college presidents are part of the chancellor’s executive cabinet.
Seattle Colleges is governed by a five-member board of trustees appointed by the Washington state governor and approved by the state Senate. Trustees serve sequential five-year terms and are responsible for hiring the chancellor, who reports to the board.
Together our chancellor, our college presidents, and their teams work with our board of trustees to guide Seattle Colleges toward excellence.
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Our Strategic Plan
Seattle Colleges’ strategic planning process is cyclical, with planning, implementation, and review built into each comprehensive strategic plan. The board of trustees—in consultation with the district community, including faculty, staff, students, administrative leadership, and external partners—initiates and approves each plan.
The most recent planning phase took place in 2016-2017 and culminated in the multiyear Seattle Colleges Strategic Plan for 2017-23, which provided broad, forward-looking direction with a strong, intentional focus on fostering student success.
An updated districtwide Strategic Plan will be developed during the 2023-2024 academic year. This updated plan will reflect a common purpose, beliefs, commitments, and priorities. It will also establish a set of major goals to be achieved over time across the district and at each college. The foundation for this planning is facilitated at the district level and is formulated through extensive involvement from Central, North, and South.
Accompanying the districtwide Strategic Plan will be a set of Action Plans—one for each college. Each Action Plan recognizes the unique characteristics of each of the colleges and includes a range of high-level strategies that will be operationalized in a manner appropriate for each college. Individual college Action Plans, in turn, are devised and implemented to reinforce the overarching goals outlined in the districtwide Strategic Plan. These plans are locally crafted at the divisional and departmental levels. Embedded within the Strategic Plan and Action Plans are strategies designed to steer and bolster districtwide goals and objectives.
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Our Student Demographics
Like our city and surrounding region, our student body is dynamic and among the most diverse in the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle Central College
- 11,073 total students
- 36% male, 53% female, 1% nonbinary, 9% not reported
- 6% of students are parents
- 53% identify as students of color
- 55% full-time students
- 45% part-time students
- Median age is 28
Seattle Central College
- 10,178 total students
- 35% male, 52% female, <1% nonbinary, 12% not reported
- 5% of students are parents
- 56% identify as students of color
- 47% full-time students
- 53% part-time students
- Median age is 25
Source: the data above is provided by the Seattle Colleges Office of Institutional Effectiveness. For more information, see our data dashboard.
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Our People
Seattle Colleges has more than 2,000 employees districtwide.
- Full-time faculty employees: 271
- Part-time faculty employees: approximately 500 per quarter
- Classified staff employees: 420
- Professional staff employees: 208
- Exempt nonrepresented employees: 155
- Part-time temporary hourly employees: 555
More than 70 percent of our employees are represented by one of three unions:
- American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Seattle Local 1789, AFL-CIO
- American Federation of Teachers Seattle Professional Staff (AFT-SPS) Local 6550, AFL-CIO
- Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), AFSCME Council 28, AFL-CIO
Source: the data above is from April 2023 and is provided by the Seattle Colleges Office of Human Resources.
Our Programs
Seattle Colleges' 130-plus programs are organized around eight areas of study.
- Arts, Design, and Graphics
- Business and Accounting
- Culinary, Hospitality, and Wine
- Education and Human Services
- Health and Medical
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
- Skilled Trades and Technical Training
- Social Sciences, Humanities, and Language
We offer:
- Bachelor's degrees
- Associate of Applied Science, Arts, Business, Science, and Fine Arts transfer degrees
- Career and Technical Education
- Certificates
- General Education Degree preparation
- ESL/Basic and Transitional Studies
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Our Neighborhood and City
Seattle Central College’s main campus is located in vibrant, diverse Capitol Hill, putting us right at the heart of progress, equity, and social justice in Seattle—and, of course adjacent to incredible food, art, music, and culture. Since 1966, Seattle Central has helped lead historic social justice movements, events, and demonstrations that have inspired national and global change.
Seattle is an urban, cosmopolitan hub surrounded by water, forests, and mountains. As a major port and Washington state's largest city, Seattle is a center of not only commerce and tourism, but also technology, healthcare, education, and the arts. Its diverse population and eclectic neighborhoods create a rich cultural diversity that is reflected in its businesses, restaurants, events, and music.
We acknowledge that we occupy the traditional ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Tulalip, Snoqualmie and Suquamish—a people that are still here, continuing to honor and bring to light their ancient heritage.
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