Harford Community College is a public community college in Bel Air, Maryland. It was established as Harford Junior College in September 1957 with 116 students in the buildings and on the campus of the Bel Air High School in the county seat. The Bel Air campus of 1964 occupies and now has 21 buildings totaling over .
History
HCC was founded in September 1957 as the "Harford Junior College" on the campus and in the basement of the building for Bel Air High School with 116 original students. By four years later in September 1961, enrollment had risen to 354. In 1964, it moved to its current location east of Bel Air on Thomas Run Road in Bel Air, where it continued to grow and eventually was renamed "Harford Community College" in 1971, using the title of "community" which had become more popular in the former nationwide "junior college movement". Dating back into the 1920s with some public and a few private colleges at the lower level conceived and founded, with some earlier antecedents and similar schools appearing in Baltimore at the turn of the 20th Century (with The Baltimore City College - high school (1839) and lower college (1866), and later the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (1883), that some old-time citizens of Harford County traveled into the city to avail themselves of the educational opportunities in the state's major city. Montgomery College in Montgomery County of the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., was the first established in the state in 1946 of the modern concept of "junior college", followed by the Baltimore Junior College (again located first at the Baltimore City College) in 1947, (B.J.C. later renamed "Community College of Baltimore" during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s). Occasionally some Harford County residents currently avail themselves of the opportunities at the neighboring three campuses of the Community College of Baltimore County system at Catonsville, Essex or Dundalk. In the mid-1990s, the HCC began expanding, adding a new library, along with Fallston Hall, Edgewood Hall, new parking lots, and an expanded baseball sports facility. Continued future expansion is also expected with the ties and influence of Harfordians being very close.
Academics
HCC has seven academic divisions that offer 61 associates degrees and 21 certificate degrees. The academic divisions are: Behavioral & Social Sciences Community Education, Business & Applied Technology Nursing & Allied Health Professions Arts & Humanities Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Visual, Performing & Applied Arts
Harford Community College is a member of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges.
Athletics
HCC is represented by the mascot of the "Fighting Owls." This nickname was chosen during the institution's early years, when it was largely an evening college and the nocturnal nature of the Owl represented that fact.
Harford has traditionally had a successful athletics program, with over 70 students being named All-Americans on the junior college level of interscholastic sports.
Sports
The "Fighting Owls" compete in the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Harford offers fourteen varsity sports, seven men's and seven women's teams.
Football
From 1964 to 1985, Harford ran a successful scholastic football program. The program went to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) football championship in 1984, where it lost to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The following year, Harford was forced to close the program due to lack of funding. The discontinuation of the football program was met with heavy opposition by students, who signed many petitions to bring the program back. However, proper funding never came in later, and the sports program still has had to remain closed for 29 years.
Field Hockey
Harford ran an extremely successful field hockey program for women from 1975 to 2000. The program won the national championship in 1995, Harford's only national championship. NJCAA field hockey was discontinued in 1997. Harford started playing National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II and Division III schools, even some Division I Junior Varsity teams to try to keep the field hockey program alive. In 2000, after 3 years of strain, the program was forced to shut down.
Lacrosse
Harford's women's lacrosse team, led by head coach Nikki Murphy, won its first NJCAA Division I National Championship in program history on May 19, 2019.
Harford Men's Lacrosse won their first NJCAA title in 2023 with a win over Nassau to cap a 12-0 season.