Allen County Community College (Iola)
Around 40 associate degree programs are on offer at Allen Community College, including an Associate of General Studies (A.G.S.) program that's designed to provide a personal enrichment-oriented alternative to conventional degree plans. Allen has held classes at its main campus in Iola since 1970 and a secondary location opened in Burlingame in 1991.
The array of distance education offerings available at Allen earns it a spot among the top online community colleges in Kansas. The institution provides a range of online courses that can either be added into a campus-based study plan or used to earn your entire degree online.
Whether they attend campus-based or online courses, Allen students can get whatever help they need with their academic writing. The Iola campus maintains a brick-and-mortar writing center, and an online writing lab (OWL) is available during and after hours for online students.
Dodge City Community College (Dodge City)
Known as DC3 to many, Dodge City Community College has been educating areas students since 1935. The school offers degrees and certificates in eight broad categories.
Some of the programs at DC3, such as the associate degree in agriculture, are intended for those who plan to transfer credits and pursue a bachelor's degree at a four-year school. Others are technical and vocational programs that are designed to provide skills that will have students career-ready after graduation. A flight instructor program and welding certificate are two examples of the school's vocational training options.
Distance learners can take online or hybrid courses at Dodge City Community College. Plus, high school students are welcome to start their college career early through the school's dual credit and concurrent enrollment program.
Johnson County Community College (Overland Park)
Head to Johnson County Community College for an education backed by 50 years of experience and student success. The school was founded in 1969 and has since developed a reputation for small class sizes, competitive tuition rates and diverse academic offerings.
JCCC has more than 50 degree and certificate programs available, and nearly a dozen of these can be earned entirely online. The college maintains transfer agreements with more than 25 regional colleges and universities and that can make it easy for students earning transfer degrees to continue their education at a four-year school.
The college has a popular certified nursing assistant program and is home to the National Academy of Railroad Sciences. Other technical training programs cover fields such as accounting, cosmetology and criminal justice.
Butler Community College (El Dorado)
Students who want the experience of a bustling campus and a large cohort of fellow learners may want to give extra consideration to Butler Community College, where the enrollment headcount was is more than 12,000. This El Dorado institution was founded in 1927 and offers more than 110 degree and certificate programs, including online degrees in accounting, secondary education and liberal arts.
A few of the initiatives in force at Butler show that it's committed to helping students achieve their college goals. It maintains close to 35 articulation agreements with Kansas colleges and universities and offers certain study plans through its Early College Academy program, allowing high school students to earn college credit.
Around 13,000 residents live in El Dorado proper, but students who want access to a big city in their downtime won't be disappointed. Wichita, with its population of nearly 450,000, is just 30 miles away.
Highland Community College (Highland)
By far the oldest institution on our list of the best Kansas community colleges, Highland Community College was first chartered as Highland University in 1858. While the institution's name has changed seven times over the years, its mission of providing quality higher education to the people of northeast Kansas has remained steadfast throughout.
Approximately 3,000 students attend courses here, primarily at the main Highland campus but also at 5 regional locations. Close to 50 concentration areas are available for students pursuing academic degrees, as well as more than a dozen technical education programs.
The growing demand for online schools hasn't escaped HCC, either — students can use distance education to fulfill individual course requirements or earn an entire degree. General A.A. and A.S. degrees are available online, as well as A.A.S. programs in business, criminal justice, personal training and more.
Barton County Community College (Great Bend)
More than 15,000 students attend classes at Barton Community College each year. The school was founded in 1969 and today offers its programs at four campus locations. Online programs and courses are also available for distance learners.
Barton offers four associate degrees and three levels of certificates. Some certificates require as little as 16 credits for completion. In total, the school's degrees and certificates cover dozens of fields of study, and they are broken down into two categories: academic programs and career programs and training. Popular options include welding, emergency medical services education and nursing.
As one of the best Kansas community colleges, Barton has a number of student support services. These include a career center, academic advising and access to tutoring, counseling and disability services.
Cloud County Community College (Concordia)
The main campus of Cloud County Community College is located in Concordia, but it works to make its courses and degree programs available to residents of all 12 counties in its service area in northern central Kansas. The institution maintains nearly 30 satellite learning sites, including a robust second campus in Junction City.
Degrees available at CCCC include cutting-edge Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree plans in unmanned aircraft systems and wind energy technology, as well as numerous specialties in agricultural production and services. A variety of online courses are available as well, for students who need some additional schedule flexibility.
The campus has also taken steps to meet some of its energy needs with renewable power. CCCC maintains a small wind farm south of campus and relies on geothermal energy to power its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
Neosho County Community College (Chanute)
Neosho County Community College prides itself on being one of the best community colleges in Kansas in terms of student success, and the numbers show that it does its part to make sure its students' educational needs are met. The average class size here is just 13 students, for example, and the student-faculty ratio is 12:1.
The annual NCCC budget also indicates a high priority on student success. A recent fiscal report shows that classroom instruction and student services made up fully half of the year's expenditures, and more than 10 percent of spending went to student scholarships and other awards.
NCCC students can also complete the requirements for numerous degree and certificate programs exclusively through online classes. Its catalog of more than 30 distance programs makes it one of the most prolific online community colleges in Kansas. Nursing, HVAC and welding are a few of the popular fields of study offered at NCCC.
Kansas City Kansas Community College (Kansas City)
Drawing students from both Kansas and Missouri, Kansas City Kansas Community College is another of the top two-year schools in the state. More than 5,000 people take classes at the college, and two-thirds of the student body is enrolled on a part-time basis.
KCKCC takes pride is its small class sizes and its approachable faculty members. Programs at the school are broken down into five academic divisions and include both transfer degrees and career technical education options. In addition to popular subjects like nursing, automotive technology and carpentry, KCKCC has programs in niche fields such as mortuary science and biomanufacturing.
The college has its campus in Kansas City, but online and hybrid courses are also available. High school students may be able to enroll in KCKCC early thanks to the Concurrent Enrollment Partnership Program.
Hutchinson Community College (Hutchinson)
Hutchinson Community College admitted its first class of fewer than 200 students in 1928 and it's grown in leaps and bounds since then. Today, the institution maintains a pair of off-campus sites in the cities of Newton and McPherson to help educate its student body of more than 5,500 learners per semester.
Students at HCC have more than 75 areas of study from which to choose. The catalog contains academic degrees in science, math and the humanities as well as career-focused programs in subjects like industrial technology, healthcare, education and agriculture.
The city of Hutchinson has a resident population of around 40,000, making it a great size for a college town. It also features a unique attraction for museum lovers: the Cosmosphere, a space and science center that was chosen as one of the first affiliate sites of the Smithsonian Institution.
