Columbia College (Virginia)

Columbia College

Type	Private
Established	1999
President	Dr. Richard K. Kim
Students	650
Location	Vienna, Virginia, United States
Campus	Vienna, VA, US; Centreville, VA, US; Silver Spring, MD, US
Website	www.ccdc.edu

Columbia College is a private vocational college located in Vienna, Virginia. The college offers Associate Degree and Certificate programs in Cosmetology, Massage Therapy, Dental Laboratory Technology, Culinary Arts, Business Administration, Computer Science, Teaching English for Early Childhood, Technical and Business English, Nurse’s Aide (CNA), Computer Basic, TESOL, Paralegal, and QuickBooks, Columbia College also offers English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and have a large population of international students and staff.

History

Columbia College was first established in Manassas, Virginia on October 17, 1999 to meet the region’s need to support the growing industry and business. Columbia College built its foundation as Columbia College, Inc., March 2000. It offered certificate programs approved by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). The College moved from Fairfax to its current location in Vienna in September 2016 and was approved by SCHEV for its associate degree programs in October 2005. The Silver Spring Campus (Maryland) was added in January 2006 to accommodate individuals who resided in the area. In February 2007, Columbia College was nationally accredited by the Council on Occupational Education (COE), and the Centreville Campus (Virginia) was added in June 2008. All of the programs offered at the Silver Spring and Centreville campuses were approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) and SCHEV, respectively, and later accredited by COE as well. In May 2009, the College became a participant of Federal Student Aid Programs (Title IV). In September 2009, Columbia College opened a TOEFL test center sponsored by ETS, and in February 2010, a test center for various certifications sponsored by Prometric. The test center, however, has not been reopened yet. The College was approved by the State of Virginia for providing veteran’s education in September 2010. The College was approved by the Federal USCIS and SEVIS to issue I-20 for F-1 and M-1 student visa and also approved by the US Department of State and SEVIS to issue DS-2019 for J-1 exchange visa. Over the years, Columbia College has been expanding its programs to offer to diverse populations of students, along with curriculum revisions as well as the addition of new facilities and equipment. Today, Columbia College offers ESL classes, 10 certificate and 8 associate degree programs to students from over 30 countries.

Accreditation

Columbia College is Nationally accredited by The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and School (ACICS) ^[1]

Columbia College is nationally accredited by The Council on Occupational Education (COE) ^[2]

Columbia College is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) ^[3]

Columbia College is certified to operate by Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) ^[4]

References

Coordinates: 38°52′41″N 77°13′52″W / 38.878°N 77.231°W / 38.878; -77.231