Harper College


William Rainey Harper College is a public community college in Palatine, Illinois. It was established by referendum in 1965 and opened in September 1967. It is named for William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in the junior college movement in the United States and the first president of the University of Chicago.

Campus

Location

Harper College has a campus approximately northwest of downtown Chicago, Illinois in the suburb of Palatine. Address: 1200 West Algonquin Road - Palatine, IL 60067
Harper also offers classes and services at other locations within Community College District 512:
The campus was designed to have an informal layout. The architectural concept uses scale and placement of buildings, multilevel plazas, brick, wood and concrete building materials and glass window walls to give a variety of interior and exterior views. The structures are built into the natural contours of the land, with entrances on several levels. The Avanté Center for Science, Health Careers and Emerging Technologies covers more than of learning space including 35 laboratories, nine lecture halls, a nursing lab, and a working dental clinic. According to the architects Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc., Avanté incorporates energy-saving elements using a holistic approach.

Academics

Harper College offers more than 50 transfer options, allowing students to earn an associate degree before transferring to a four-year college or university to complete a bachelor's degree. The college also offers more than 40 career programs which grant an associate degree or certificate and provide the skills necessary to enter the workforce. These programs range in length from sixteen weeks to two years.
All courses, educational programs, counseling services, and distance learning programs are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The college is also home to an award-winning Speech & Debate team. In the past 16 years, the team has won the Illinois Intercollegiate Speech and Debate Tournament on 7 occasions.
Harper offers 15 Study Abroad programs spread amongst Central America, Europe, and Asia. A few programs are directly administered by the College; on the other hand, most are in conjunction with the Illinois Consortium for International Studies and Programs.

Communities served

Harper College District 512 comprises these communities: Arlington Heights, Barrington, Barrington Hills, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Lake Barrington, Mount Prospect, North Barrington, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, South Barrington, Tower Lakes, Wheeling and small portions of Buffalo Grove, Carpentersville, Deer Park, Des Plaines, Fox River Grove, Hanover Park and Roselle.

College sports

Football

The football program was eliminated in January 2012.