North Harris Montgomery Community College District is recognized as one of the finest community college districts in the country, offering a wide range of academic and occupational courses for recent high school graduates and community residents of all ages. Since 1973, when North Harris College opened its doors to just 613 students, the college district service area has grown to 2,200 square-miles, four campuses, over 30,000 credit students each semester, and an additional 17,000 non-credit students.

NHMCCD is the fourth-largest community college district in Texas and the fastest growing. Experts say no state community college with a large student base will equal its growth rate over the coming decade. One of the reasons for the college district's unrivaled growth is its steadfast commitment to job training, state-of-the-art technological tools and educational excellence. But another reason for this phenomenal growth is that NHMCCD'S service area is one of the fastest growing suburban areas in the United States. The population doubled from 1970 to 1990, and has since tripled by the year 2000. This college district serves 5.5 percent of the entire state.

Today NHMCCD continues to build a stellar reputation for its innovative programs, nationally-renowned faculty and student-centered learning environments. Students attend the district's colleges for diverse reasons:

• To obtain an associate's degree or certificate;
• To transfer to a university;
• To gain new job skills; or
• To change careers

One of the most crucial educational needs of a community is to provide a trained workforce. It's a well-established cycle: Education generates a trained workforce, and a trained workforce fuels a community's economy. Experts say that a trained workforce is the critical factor in producing and maintaining a healthy economy.

Opened in 1998 near the Montgomery College campus, The University Center is available and convenient district wide. Through technological advances in telecommunications, classes are offered throughout the district, providing a "seamless" educational transition from community college student to university student, to a bachelors, a degree graduate, and eventually to a master's degree and doctoral graduate.

There are more needs to be met with the dawning of the new millennium as we approach the year 2000. In addition to delivering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through The University Center, the college district has a sustained commitment to provide a trained workforce in the community. In order to do this, NHMCCD is keeping up with expanding technology and job and career training trends by creating new technical programs and constructing specialized facilities.