Clark College was founded as a private, two-year junior college in
1933 and was granted initial accreditation in 1937 based upon a visit
by a committee of five professors from the University of Washington.
The college received accreditation from the Northwest Association of
Schools and Colleges in 1948 and has continued to maintain that standing
through periodic reviews.
Clark College first received State financial support in 1941. Five
years later, the college was placed under the general supervision of
the State Board of Education with the Vancouver School Board serving
as its policy-making body. In 1967, the Washington legislature created
a state system of community college districts. Clark College District
No. 14, one of 34 Washington community and technical colleges, serves
residents of Clark, Skamania and west Klickitat counties.
Vancouver's
historic Hidden House served as the first campus for Clark College through
1937. The college relocated four times within the city during the next
decade. During World War II, classes were suspended for a two-year period.
When the college reopened, enrollment climbed rapidly and a vocational
curriculum was added to meet the needs of returning veterans as well
as traditional students.
In 1951, an evening program began and the Applied Arts Center became
the first building on the current 80-acre main campus in Vancouver's
Central Park. 
Student
enrollment settled at around 4,800 through the late 1950s and early
1960s then grew again to the 8,000 mark by the end of the 1970s reflecting
a population surge in Clark County. A reduction in funding and a State
mandate kept enrollments level during the mid-1980s. The location of
several major electronics firms and related-service industries in Clark
County spurred economic growth, multiple employment opportunities for
Clark's Associate in Applied Science degree graduates, and boosted enrollments
to nearly 11,000 students per quarter in the 1990s.
Today, Clark College serves nearly 13,000 students at its main campus, Clark College at Washington State University Vancouver, and Clark College at Town Plaza.
Clark College has co-admission agreements with Concordia University, Marylhurst University, Portland State University, and Washington State University Vancouver to provide pathways to baccalaureate degrees. We also expand access to education by making it possible to earn university degrees at our campus. Currently, students can earn bachelor’s degrees in Technology, Dental Hygiene and Social Work and a master’s degree in Social Work from Eastern Washington University at Clark College.
As it has throughout its proud history, Clark College continues to
take The Next Step to serve its students and the community.
