Seattle Colleges Profile

Seattle Colleges is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education. Each college is accredited individually.

All three colleges (North, Central, and South) are among the 34 public community and technical colleges in Washington state that are members of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). The SBCTC is governed by a nine-member, governor-appointed board and is responsible for administering the Community and Technical College Act.

Goal: Student Success

We strive to improve student satisfaction, retention, completion, and job placement, as well as to narrow student performance gaps.

• Strategy 1: Implement structured academic and career pathways.
• Strategy 2: Practice strategic enrollment management.

Goal: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Community

We firmly establish equity, diversity, and inclusion as a human right for all. We frame our decisions and actions with this lens and are accountable to the community.

• Strategy: Develop and implement a diversity action plan.

Goal: Organizational Excellence

We seek continuous improvement in excellence in teaching and learning, operational efficiency and fiscal sustainability, strategic innovation, and employee growth and engagement.

• Strategy 1: Enhance teaching and learning.
• Strategy 2: Achieve system integration.
• Strategy 3: Foster sustainability.

Goal: Partnerships

We value and invest in strategic and ongoing partnerships with educational, business, governmental, labor, and community organizations.

• Strategy: Build partnerships.

The most recent scorecard for the plan indicates progress has been made in several areas.

In early 2022, the board of trustees authorized the extension of 2017-23 plan through July 2024. Unforeseen events occurring after the extension led the board to consider a “bridge plan.”

The bridge plan offered a refreshed and focused sense of direction while addressing critical priorities. In February 2023, the board unanimously approved a bridge plan with 10 strategies. The strategies, organized by the strategic plan goals, are as follows.

2023-2024 Bridge Plan

Goal: Student Success

• Financial Aid Consolidation Planning
• Admissions/Registration Consolidation Planning
• Guided Pathways – Intake and Onboarding
• Guided Pathways – Exploratory Experience
• Guided Pathways – Placement
• Guided Pathways – Program Mapping

Goal: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Community

• Racial Equity Action Plan

Goal: Organizational Excellence

• Budget
• Employee Retention

Goal: Partnerships

• Equity Can't Wait Campaign

The bridge plan strengthens the critical infrastructure that supports students with minimum impact on instructional programs or curriculum.

The development of a new strategic plan is scheduled for Fall 2024.

For more information about strategic planning, see seattlecolleges.edu/administration/mission-strategic-plan-and-initiatives

An updated districtwide Strategic Plan will be developed during the 2023-2024 academic year. This updated plan will reflect a common purpose, beliefs, commitments, and priorities. It will also establish a set of major goals to be achieved over time across the district and at each college. The foundation for this planning is facilitated at the district level and is formulated through extensive involvement from Central, North, and South. 

Accompanying the districtwide Strategic Plan will be a set of Action Plans—one for each college. Each Action Plan recognizes the unique characteristics of each of the colleges and includes a range of high-level strategies that will be operationalized in a manner appropriate for each college. The individual college Action Plans, in turn, are devised and implemented to reinforce the overarching goals outlined in the districtwide Strategic Plan. These plans are locally crafted at the divisional and departmental levels. Embedded within the Strategic Plan and Action Plans are strategies designed to steer and bolster districtwide goals and objectives. 

Ultimately, the Strategic Plan acknowledges our proud history, short-term challenges, and opportunities while identifying future directions, aspirations, and operational strategies. It also affirms our fundamental mission: to prepare each student for a successful life and work in a diverse, global, and dynamic society.

Learn more.

North Seattle College | northseattle.edu

Established in 1970, North Seattle College provides learning opportunities for a diverse group of more than 10,000 students each year. Lush nearby wetlands, vibrant green spaces, and a community garden make North’s campus a respite from the bustling city, but it is well connected by the neighboring Northgate light rail station. North is the starting point for many students who transfer to top universities across the country. Strong academic preparation and advising services, small classes, an innovative integrated studies program, broad e-learning options, and a variety of partnerships with four-year schools contribute to student success. North also offers six bachelor’s degrees: Accounting with an International focus, Application Development, Computer Science, Early Childhood Education, International Business, and Residential and Commercial Property Management.

Learn more at our North Seattle College Profile.

Seattle Central College | seattlecentral.edu

Established in 1966 as Seattle’s first community college, Seattle Central College has grown into a thriving center for higher education in the heart of Washington’s largest city. Central offers college transfer, career training, continuing education, and basic studies programs to more than 10,000 students each year. While Central’s home is the vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood, with its renowned food, art, music, and culture, the college’s perspective is global, with the nation’s sixth-largest community or technical college international program, hosting more than 1,000 students from around the world each year. Central also offers bachelor’s degrees in Applied Behavioral Science, Community Health and Education, Dental Hygiene, Health Care Services Management, and Respiratory Care.

Central administers three specialty training centers:

1. The Health Education Center is a world-class training facility for our excellent healthcare programs. It is located in the historic Pacific Tower on Beacon Hill.
2. Seattle Maritime Academy is located in a state-of-the-art facility in the Ballard neighborhood. It prepares skilled mariners to fill vital roles in all sectors of the maritime industry, from ferries to fishing vessels, tugboats to tankers.
3. The Wood Technology Center is located in a modern facility in Seattle’s Central District and focuses on preparing students for work in the building trades, including carpentry, boat building, and construction.

Learn more at our Seattle Central College Profile.

South Seattle College | southseattle.edu

Established in 1969 with a spacious 87-acre main campus on a hilltop in West Seattle, South Seattle College serves as a portal of opportunity each year for approximately 9,000 students with diverse needs to meet their educational and career goals. South prepares students for immediate employment or successful transfer to four-year colleges and universities, and it has the largest apprenticeship training program in the state at the Georgetown campus. South also offers bachelor’s degrees in Hospitality Management and Sustainable Building Science Technology.

South administers two specialty training centers and is in a public-private partnership to operate a third:

1. Located in Seattle’s industrial Georgetown neighborhood, the Georgetown campus is known as the area’s premier workforce education and training center.
2. NewHolly Learning Center is a community resource for southeast Seattle. It is located on Beacon Hill.
3. Harbor Island Training Center is a public-private partnership established on-site at Vigor Industrial Shipyards to train maritime welders for the regional shipbuilding and repair community.

Learn more at our South Seattle College Profile.

Seattle Colleges District Office at Siegal Center | seattlecolleges.edu

Our district office is located one block south of Seattle Central’s Broadway Edison Building in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The district office represents Seattle Colleges on the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) for purposes of enrollment and budget allocations. With offices in Siegal Center, the chancellor’s senior administrative leadership team leads and coordinates districtwide functions, activities, and services. Administrative units—including Academic and Student Success; Business and Finance; Advancement/Foundation; the Chancellor's Office; District Communications and Strategic Initiatives; Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Community (EDIC); Government Relations; Human Resources; Information Technology; and Workforce Education—have offices there that serve the entire district.

• Districtwide Administrative Units