Columbia Basin College

Coordinates: 46°15′4.38″N 119°7′17.38″W / 46.2512167°N 119.1214944°W / 46.2512167; -119.1214944 Columbia Basin College is a college based in Pasco, Washington. The College offers many associate degrees and one baccalaureate business degree in applied management.

Despite having been built on the site of a Wasco Indian burial ground, the Pasco campus has seen substantial growth in the past decade, adding new facilities to accommodate the large demand for higher education from a growing community. These facilities include the Thornton Center, the Moore Observatory, the Business Building, the Center for Career and Technical Education, the College Foundation, new athletic fields, and a research farm on its ~150 acres (0.61 km2), along with a Health Science Center at its Richland campus. Infrastructure improvements also include substantial remodels to the Hawk Union Building, the Library, the Science Building, the Administration Building, the Fitness Center, and the I-Complex. In 2008-2009, the college Full-Time Equivalent students totaled just over 6,000, which represented more than 13,000 headcount students. A third of these students are Latino; the College holds designation as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Permanent faculty members, who are well-prepared for their instructional areas, hold a minimum of a master's degree in the discipline (i.e., MBA, MSN, etc.) in areas of transfer and basic skills/transitional education, and the appropriate degrees and/or certifications in vocational areas. Doctoral or M.F.A.-prepared faculty members include graduates from a wide geographic range; for example, Claremont, Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Washington State University, University of Paris, American University, Mississippi State, University of Oregon, Arizona State University, University of Minnesota, Humboldt State, University of Montana, University of Cincinnati, San Diego State, Pacific University, Montana State, and University of Washington.

Columbia Basin College's mascot is the Hawk, and its teams play in the NWAACC. Some of the college's students are teenagers who come from nearby high schools under the State of Washington's Running Start program. CBC also works closely with the Tri-Cities branch of Washington State University to complement each other's programs and avoid overlap, with CBC providing the first two years education of a four-year degree from the branch campus. Across the street from the Health Science Center in nearby Richland is the college's main Richland campus, which has been re-purposed through a five-year renewable loan to the school districts of Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland for Delta High School. Delta is a "STEM" High School focused on Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics education.

Richard Cummins, Ph.D. is the current president of the College. Dr. Cummins succeeded President Emeritus Lee Thornton, Ph.D. in July 2008.

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