Why Mt. Hood

You might be asking yourself…why should I go to Mt. Hood? This is a great question to be asking when trying to make a decision about college. There are a lot of advantages to attending Mt. Hood so let’s walk through some of the main advantages.

Cost

Junior colleges are much more reasonable in cost for attending than private or even public four year schools. Since you receive basically the same education and take the same classes (See Education Quality below) for the first two years of college no matter where you attend school, it only makes sense find the lowest cost option. Check out the comparison chart below that compares Mt. Hood to other schools both in and out of state for tuition costs.

If you are an out of state student check with a Mt. Hood coach, your state might have an agreement with Oregon that allows you to get instate tuition prices. It’s also very easy to establish yourself as an instate resident!

Also, remember that at Mt. Hood you can apply for all kinds of scholarships, grants, and loans both through the government (Fill out your FAFSA form!), and through private institutions.

Why pay more for the same education?

* 2006-2007 Costs

Costs are based on tuition/fee rates for an undergraduate Oregon resident looking to attend school taking 15 credits per term for 2 years (90 credits total). All tuition/fee costs were obtained from the corresponding school’s website on 6/20/07 and represent the estimated tuition costs for the 2007-2008 school year unless otherwise noted.

Location

When you talk about location of a school everybody is looking for something different. Some people like the mountains, others like the beach, some enjoy green scenery, or a city with a lot to do. Lucky for all those people, Mt. Hood has a great location for just about anything you want to do.

Located in Gresham, Oregon, Mt. Hood Community College is close to a variety of sites and activities. Mt. Hood is 20 minutes east of Downtown Portland which has all kinds of great restaurants, shopping, dancing, and parks. Only an hour east of campus, are the great skiing and snowboard slopes of Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline Lodge. During the spring and summer months you can also head to Mt. Hood Ski Bowl for all kinds of fun including the Alpine Slides, Bungee Jumping, Go Karts and much more.

If you’re a fan of the beach, Mt. Hood is only a beautiful two hour drive through the coastal mountains away from the Oregon Coast. Great cities line the Oregon Coast including Newport, Lincoln City, Seaside, Astoria and Coos Bay. Be sure to take a weekend trip and check out the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Mt. Hood also has the major convenience of being situated only 20 minutes from Portland International Airport which has world wide airlines service. Gresham is also the east end of the TriMet MAX Light Rail system which makes getting from campus to the Airport, Downtown, or the West Side of Portland easy, convenient, and inexpensive.

The famous Multnomah Falls is only 20 minutes east which is a great drive along the Columbia River Gorge. Boating is also a popular activity along the Columbia or Willamette Rivers. Portland is also home to the Trailblazers (NBA Basketball), Lumberjax (Lacrosse), Beavers (AAA Baseball), Winterhawks (Hockey), and Timbers (Soccer) so no matter what your sports interest there is always a game to catch. The Portland Metro area is also home to a lot of great golf courses, restaurants, bowling alleys, movie theaters, and music.

Education Quality

At Mt. Hood you won’t be making any sacrifices in terms of the quality of the education you will receive. For the most part, the first two years of college are the same, no matter what school you attend. You take basic core classes such as Math (Algebra, Trigonometry, Prob & Stats), Writing (English Composition, Creative), Literature, Computer Concepts, Economics, Science (Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy), Psychology, Communications, Health, Art/Music, History and Business. Your teachers and professors at Mt. Hood are not only highly qualified, many holding Masters degrees in their field of study, but also come with real life work experience in the fields they teach to make your education at Mt. Hood both valuable and rewarding.

All these classes are designed to help you work towards an associate’s degree or prepare you to transfer all your credits to a four year university after your graduation from Mt. Hood so that you can complete a bachelor’s degree as well. For a full list of all the educational offerings at Mt. Hood, check out this list.

Facilities

Don’t forget about all the great athletic facilities at Mt. Hood. Check out all the details and photos - Mt. Hood Facilities Page.