Mt. Hood Community College opened in 1966 and now enrolls about 27,000 students each year. Classes are offered at the 212-acre main campus in Gresham, the MHCC Maywood Park Center, the Bruning Center for Allied Health and evening education centers at district public schools.
The college is financed by local property tax funds, state reimbursement funds and student tuition. Local voters established the college tax base in 1968 and approved tax base increases in 1970 and 1980.
The Mt. Hood Community College district encompasses an area
of about 950 square miles with a population of more than 270,000. The district
boundaries extend as far east as the lofty peak of Mt. Hood and to the Wasco
County line, south into Clackamas County including the communities of Boring
and Damascus and west into the city limits of Portland. The Columbia River from
33rd Street to Cascade Locks is the northern boundary. Within this area are
included the high school districts of Corbett, David Douglas, Gresham-Barlow,
Parkrose, Port of Cascade Locks, Reynolds and the Oregon Trail District.
Board members are elected to four-year terms, meet the second Wednesday night
of each month and serve without pay. The first president of the college was
Dr Earl Klapstein. He served until 1976 and was followed by Dr. R. Stephen Nicholson
until November 1985. Dr. Paul E. Kreider served as president from 1985 until
1996. The college is currently under the direction of Dr. Robert Silverman.
Additional information about MHCC can be found at: http://www.mhcc.edu/pages/107.asp