Mission

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education's Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation (2015) states that an “institution’s mission defines its purpose within the context of higher education, the students it serves, and what it intends to accomplish.” As part of our strategic planning process, we need to think about the mission of the College and how to reflect that commitment in our mission statement.

Current Mission Statement

Community College of Philadelphia is an open-admission, associate-degree-granting institution which provides access to higher education for all who may benefit. Its programs of study in the liberal arts and sciences, career technologies, and basic academic skills provide a coherent foundation for college transfer, employment and lifelong learning. The College serves Philadelphia by preparing its students to be informed and concerned citizens, active participants in the cultural life of the city, and enabled to meet the changing needs of business, industry and the professions. To help address broad economic, cultural and political concerns in the city and beyond, the College draws together students from a wide range of ages and backgrounds and seeks to provide the programs and support they need to achieve their goals.

The College seeks to create a caring environment which is intellectually and culturally dynamic and encourages all students to achieve: 

• Greater insight into their strengths, needs and aspirations, and greater appreciation of their own cultural background and experience
• Increased awareness and appreciation of a diverse world where all are interdependent
• Heightened curiosity and active interest in intellectual questions and social issues
• Improved ability to pursue paths of inquiry, to interpret and evaluate what is discovered, and to express reactions effectively
• Self-fulfillment based on service to others, preparation for future work and study, and enjoyment of present challenges and accomplishments

Mission Survey

College research shows that members of our College community feel passionately about our mission. We invite you to explain what it is about what we do as a College that is important and meaningful to you in our Mission Survey.

Vision

To serve Philadelphia as a world-class learning institution, where student success exemplifies the strength of a diverse, urban community college.  

Among its peers, Community College of Philadelphia will be recognized as an institution that levels the playing field, improves communities, retains and graduates its students, and fuels the local and regional economy. The benchmarks upon which the College will be measured are established and recognized by the Aspen Institute. Those standards are universally accepted by the nation’s two-year colleges and provide understandable measures for developing into a first-class institution.

For many, this vision of becoming a world-class institution is far reaching. Yet, it is very doable. It’s a vision that will inspire. It can be a reflection of the added value the College provides to the life of the city that is unmatched by the assembly of higher education institutions in Philadelphia. Whether the students’ beginnings are characterized by a lack of academic or economic preparation and/or a need for a second chance, Community College of Philadelphia is the only college in Philadelphia that can bridge that gap for the least among us at an affordable cost. Achieving elite status among community colleges encourages support from donors, from national organizations looking to community colleges for solutions to the nation’s economic and social problems and, perhaps equally important, elite status raises the morale of the community, the students, faculty and staff and encourages further success.

Strategic Focus

The next College Strategic Plan will focus on five areas of strategic focus, or pillars, identified in The City’s College: Impact 2025. The entire College community and interested external stakeholders will serve as pillar builders for our plan by providing ideas for the future.

Six Pillars:

• The Student Experience
• Workforce Development, Readiness and Economic Innovation
• External and Internal Community Relations
• World-class Facilities
• Fiscal Stability and Sustainability
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion