Since opening in 1965, Community College of Philadelphia has welcomed more than 685,000 students, making it the largest higher education institution in the city. Students come for associate degrees, certificates, to advance current skills or to continue lifelong learning. More than 90% of graduates stay in the area to work and live, making our local economy even stronger.

Many students who come for associate degrees continue their education by transferring to a four-year college or university. Students interested in taking the next step to a four-year school can enroll in dual admission and transfer programs.
Counselors and advisors are available to help you explore future options or to provide you with more information about available programs. To take full advantage of these opportunities, it is important to speak with an advisor early in your academic program.

At Community College of Philadelphia, our ultimate goal is to help students find their path to career success. Our programs provide a guided pathway to the most sought-after careers in health care; science and technology; design, construction and transportation; the creative arts; business, entrepreneurship and law; liberal arts and communications; and education and human services. Flexible schedules can be made with classes during the day, evening and on Saturdays at the Main Campus or the three Regional Centers located throughout the city—Northeast, West, and the Career and Advanced Technology Center (CATC). Online and hybrid classes are also available.

Getting involved is a great way to meet new people and develop leadership skills. As more than 30 clubs and organizations are continuously evolving at the College, students always have opportunities to learn, socialize and grow their resumes.

The Athletics Center is just next door to the Winnet Student Life Building, and offers a variety of fall, winter and spring sports, both intercollegiate and intramural. The full-court gym, weight room, aerobics facilities and racquetball courts are open for student use. Usage is subject to change depending on circumstances.

Community College of Philadelphia students are diverse and come from dozens of cultural backgrounds across 60 countries with a range of ages and educational goals. As our mission states, the College values the inclusion of all backgrounds and proudly supports our diverse student population.

GUIDED PATHWAYS AT THE COLLEGE

As part of Community College of Philadelphia’s uncompromising focus on student success, the College has implemented Guided Pathways. Guided Pathways focuses on providing students with a highly structured experience and is made up of four parts: clarifying paths; helping students choose and enter their path; helping students stay on their paths; and ensuring students are learning. The following are some of the changes the College has made as part of Guided Pathways.

• Established seven Academic Pathways, which group programs together based on common courses, career goals, transfer options, etc. The seven Academic Pathways are: Health Care; Science and Technology; Design, Construction and Transportation; Business, Entrepreneurship and Law; Creative Arts; Liberal Arts and Communications; and Education and Human Services. Faculty across programs collaborate within each Pathway to effectively serve their students. Implemented Academic Pathway Communities. These are comprised of teaching faculty from a given Academic Pathway, advisors, counselors, and other student services staff. By working together across academic and support services, Academic Pathway Communities provide holistic supports to students.
• Expanded information available to students and prospective students with program maps. Program maps include not only the courses students should take, but advisory notes for even more information, student success checklists for each semester, and information on careers and transfer options. Prospective and current students are able to access program maps and are therefore able to fully inform themselves of the academic path they need to take to achieve their goals.
• Established the Academic Advising department. Full-time academic advisors are assigned to programs and use a case management model. Assigned academic advisors are able to act as a constant point of contact for students in those programs and work closely with those students to develop educational plans to take them through their studies at the College and beyond.
• Restructured its developmental education programming to help students progress through their coursework quicker. Course revisions include adopting the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) and Co-requisite Seminar Program (CSP) courses for English, the Intensive English Learning Program for ESL, and accelerated and contextualized courses for Foundational Math. With ALP, CSP, and accelerated sections, students can take college-level classes in less time. For example, all Developmental English courses are now linked to ENGL 101 or other 100-level courses, thus enabling students to be college-ready sooner. Contextualized sections for programs and pathways allow students to connect their math course directly to their course of study and apply what they learn to their program.
• Designed First-Year Experience courses. The College’s largest programs have developed first-year experience courses – AH 101 for Allied Health, FYE 101 for Liberal Arts, BUSL 101 for Business, and BIOL 101 for Biological Studies. Other programs, including Accounting, Black Studies, Criminal Justice, and Fashion Merchandising & Marketing, have also added these courses to their curricula. In each of these courses, students develop their own academic plan, career plan, and financial plan. Students should take this course within their first twelve credits. Students who do take this course at the beginning of their studies have thus laid out their path for at least the next two years.
• Expanded early alerts and monitoring student progress. Instructors, advisors, counselors, and others use Starfish to communicate with students and to keep in touch with them regarding their progress. Faculty can send kudos, flags, and referrals with the aim of keeping students on track to successfully complete their courses and progress through their program to graduation. Starfish also allows students to be more fully supported with connections made between faculty and education and support services (such as the Learning Lab). Those who work with students can therefore review the progress students have made in their studies and provide additional help where needed.
• Redesigned the intake and onboarding process for incoming students. New students can now complete an online orientation, which has multiple modules that cover topics such as registering for courses, financial aid, and College resources. New group student registration events have been restructured to be more focused and take less time. These events are now led by the Academic Advisors, which means that students connect to their assigned advisor before they even begin their first semester.
• Revamped assessment processes. Based on extensive analysis, the College was able to make major changes to assessment testing for English and math. Now students may be placed into the appropriate English and/or math course based on their high school studies, which means they do not have to take the placement exam. Students placed with this new method have been as or more successful than students placed with the traditional exam.

More information on Guided Pathways work at the College is available online at myccp.online/implementing-guided- pathways.

For more information on programs of study, career, employment and transfer opportunities, go to ccp.edu/academic- offerings/all-offerings.