<p class="ql-align-justify">The Contra Costa Community College District values academic freedom, the freedom of faculty and students to pursue knowledge without constraint and to explore the life of the mind and express observations in an open, responsible, and respectful academic environment. Only in such a free environment can imagination thrive and intellectual skills develop.</p><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><p class="ql-align-justify">Institutions of higher learning exist to seek the truth and to serve the common good. Academic freedom must be guarded as a basic right of all people in a free society. The freedom to think, to read, to speak, and to question is necessary for the development of an informed society.</p><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><p class="ql-align-justify">Contra Costa College (CCC) is the oldest and most diverse of the three colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District. CCC is situated in a socioeconomically diverse, resilient and culturally vibrant community. The college is located on 83 acres of a beautiful, naturally landscaped site accentuated by Wildcat Creek running through the rolling hills of San Pablo and Richmond. CCC has provided exemplary educational services as the only institution of higher education in the West County area.</p><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><p class="ql-align-justify">Since 1949, CCC has provided exemplary educational services to hundreds of thousands of residents from the greater West County area. The college has superior faculty and staff members and a learning environment that maximizes the potential of students. Technology is available throughout the institution and connects students to the world to ensure a relevant exchange of ideas. The college is proud of its diverse student body and commitment to individual student success. Excellent programs such as the Center for Science Excellence, The Advocate newspaper, the green Automotive Services program, the Nursing program, and the Culinary Arts program are known throughout the state and the nation. A model of excellence, CCC prides itself on being one of the finest community colleges in the country.</p><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><p class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Why Contra Costa College (CCC)</strong></p><ul><li class="ql-align-justify"><u>Campus</u>: The new college center opened in the fall of 2016. Students now enjoy a new activities building that houses all student functions, a bookstore, and a new facility for the culinary arts program that contains a dining center. The campus center also includes a new classroom building and a community hall, and there are new campus administration spaces as well.</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><u>Academic Excellence</u>: CC is recognized for many of its academic and career education programs locally, statewide and nationally.&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><u>Community</u>: CCC affirms that all individuals have inherent worth and dignity and are entitled to develop their full potential. The college is an integral part of the greater community and serves as a model of excellence providing education to help its students fulfill their dreams. The college maintains that its students will enjoy an improved quality of life, that communities will prosper economically and socially, and that families and neighborhoods will be strengthened when residents share a commitment to lifelong learning.</li></ul>