In April, Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill HB22-1280 into law, officially changing the name of Pikes Peak Community College to Pikes Peak State College. It wasnít the first name change.In 1968, the El Paso County Community College was established as a two-year college offering three associate degrees. In 1978, the college council approved a name change to Pikes Peak Community College because of a clash with a college of a similar name based in El Paso, Texas.This latest change attests to the fact that the college already offers three bachelorís degrees, with more four-year degrees on the horizon, said Warren Epstein, the Pikes Peak State College executive director of marketing and communications. ìThe word state in our name reflects the fact that we receive state funding, not to be confused with indicating a statewide presence,î Epstein said. ìWe still have 12 sister colleges; we are not competing against them, each one has their own region and specialties.îThe name change will become effective on college materials, signage, the website, etc., on Aug. 29, at the beginning of the 2022 fall semester. The website will change to https://pikespeak.edu.Pikes Peak State College will remain part of the Colorado Community College system through many transfer agreements and institutional transfer guides that ensure guaranteed acceptance of Pikes Peak State College credits.ìWe are not changing the name because we want to be bigger or change our values or mission,î Epstein said. ìOne of the things our president, Dr. Bolton, often points out is that we have so many military members and their families that move around and they can have a four-year degree in nursing. We have hundreds of graduates out there in the community at this point with a four-year degree from Pikes Peak Community College. And they get reactions like ëyou have a four-year degree from a community college, is that legit?í If you see a degree from Pikes Peak State College instead, it gets rid of those questions.îEpstein said there is a bit of irony to the name change since the college has never been more focused on its local community, serving El Paso, Teller and Elbert counties with various campuses, as well as their extensive online class options. The college continues to provide education that doesnít saddle students with decades of debt, as well as creating pipelines to the local workforce.ìOur college serves more veterans than any other college in the state of any kind, so that shows you the level we are operating on,î Epstein said. ìOur nursing program has been recognized as one of the best nursing programs in the state. Itís a great gateway to anything that you want to do.î He added that one of the schoolís chemistry professors, Ryan Johnson, was recently recognized as the 2022 Chemistry Teacher of the Year by The American Association of Chemistry Teachers, a national scientific organization of more than 160,000 members. The college also offers other health care programs like surgical technology, a nursing assistant program and phlebotomy.The collegeís student enrollment is more than 10,000, offering about 200 degrees and certificates, including a Bachelorís of Science in Nursing, a Bachelorís of Applied Science in Emergency Service Administration and the Advanced Paramedic Practitioner Bachelorís in Applied Science degree. In addition, the school offers many transfer programs where students earn credits by attending the college for the first two years at about one-third of the cost of most public universities, and then they transfer to a four-year degree at their desired college or university. An Associate in Arts and an Associate in Science degrees are transfer degrees guaranteed for all four-year public Colorado universities and colleges.Epstein said they have built relationships with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and other partner colleges. The majority of transferring students attend UCCS.ìOne of the things we just started was a joint marketing program with UCCS, recognizing that we are not competitors, that there are so many students who are putting us together and making solid careers,î Epstein said. ìThey are saving money by starting with us, and they get the seamless experience all the way through.îThe college offers many certificates and trade degrees, including construction, diesel technology, auto collision technology, heating, air conditioning and refrigeration technology, machining and others. The welding lab has state-of-the-art equipment for all processes of welding such as precision welding, structural welding, gas tungsten arc welding; and the sections do not exceed 18 students at a time. ìAmong other equipment, we have a CNC plasma (cutting) table utilizing high definition plasma for large metal cutouts,î said Troy Torres, welding technology instructor. ìThe students can take online classes like safety for welders, blueprint reading and metallurgy. They have assigned chapter reading, and complete work on a performance basis, on a progress sheet, so if they perform the tasks faster, they get done earlier. There is a written final in the end, but the rest is all hands-on work.îThe college has several public service programs and degrees like criminal justice, emergency medical services, wildland firefighting. ìWe are about to get funding for a new building for firefighting and a police academy,î Epstein said. He said they are graduating many law enforcement and firefighting personnel.The college is also grooming students who want to join the hospitality industry. ìThis is a fairly new degree, and we started this degree at the worst possible time ó during COVID,î Epstein said. However, they have established solid relationships with the hotels in the area. ìThe hotels know that our students graduating from the college already put in the commitment, they are not going to be a short-term employee. Thatís new in the attitude of the industry, which badly needs trained people.îPikes Peak State College provides financial assistance in addition to the tuition savings as compared to other four-year colleges. ìWe have more money for student financial assistance than ever before. Some of it is left from COVID, but we received a large chunk of the $26 million state grant, most of it is for health-care-related programs,î Epstein said.Pikes Peak State College is flexible with class attendance. Epstein said students have an option of attending class in person or attending via Zoom.For those students who arenít sure about a career choice, the college has six educational pathways. If a student is interested in the medical field, they can choose the medical science pathway and take a few prerequisite classes to assess their interests. ìWe have many students who donít know what specifically they want to study when they start,î Epstein said. ìAnd if they do not know, they are less likely to finish.î
