Corporate and community education, a college campus can be many things. It can be a place where a young person takes the first steps toward a career. Or it can be where a working adult learns a new skill, where a business owner finds help solving a problem, or where a retiree discovers a new hobby. It can also be a place where neighbors meet, where professionals sharpen their skills, and where a community prepares for the future.

That broader role is at the heart of Corporate and Community Education at Mohave College. While traditional college degrees remain an important part of higher education, communities also need something more flexible. There is a need for opportunities to learn without necessarily pursuing a degree. That is where non-credit education enters the picture.

Mohave College Corporate and Community Education provides workforce training, professional development, community education, youth programs, entrepreneurship resources and other learning opportunities designed around the needs of individuals, businesses and communities. And that mission has deep roots in the history of American community colleges.

In The Beginning

The idea behind the community college is older than the name. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American communities were changing rapidly. Industrialization, expanding public education and economic competition were creating a growing demand for workers with more education and specialized skills. And that posed a problem.

For many Americans, attending a four-year college meant leaving home. Cost, distance and family responsibilities could make that unrealistic. The community college model emerged in response.

The American Association of Community Colleges traces the development of the modern community college to the early 20th century. This is the era when educators and civic leaders increasingly recognized the need for accessible higher education close to home. The movement was influenced by the growth of public high schools and the desire to provide both academic and vocational opportunities locally.

Early institutions were often called junior colleges. Their primary purpose was to provide the first two years of a traditional college education, allowing students to begin higher education close to home before transferring to a university. But the mission didn’t stay there, it evolved as needs changed.

Changing Times

The transformation from junior college to community college accelerated following World War II. Millions of veterans returned home with new educational opportunities through the GI Bill. At the same time, the nation was confronting a rapidly changing economy and a growing demand for educated workers.

In 1947, President Harry Truman’s Commission on Higher Education issued a landmark report that helped redefine what a community college could, and should, be. Rather than viewing these institutions simply as inexpensive places to complete the first two years of a university education, the commission envisioned colleges that would respond to the total educational needs of the communities they served.

That broader mission included academic education, vocational and technical training, adult education and cultural opportunities. In other words, the community college was supposed to be more than a school. It was supposed to be a community resource and that idea is particularly important today.

Over the decades, community colleges evolved into some of the most versatile institutions in American education. Today they provide transfer education, career and technical education, workforce training, adult education, continuing education, entrepreneurship support and lifelong learning.

Building A Community

The U.S. Department of Education describes community colleges as important hubs for workforce and economic development. This provided career education and training aligned with in-demand industries while also offering pathways to certificates, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees.

The lesson is straightforward; a community college succeeds when it responds to the community around it. That means the college must listen. What skills do local employers need? What industries are growing? What challenges are businesses facing? What opportunities do residents want to pursue? What does a retiree want to learn simply because learning is enjoyable? What does a teenager need to know before entering the workforce for the first time?

The answers change. And education has to be able to pivot. That philosophy is not new to Mohave College.

One Step At A Time

Mohave Community College was established by vote of the people of Mohave County in October 1970, with its first facilities developing the following year. From the beginning, the College recognized the enormous geographic size and diversity of the county.

During its earliest years, the College concentrated heavily on occupational education or GED acquisition. Many classes were offered at night. Academic transfer courses were added in 1973, and the institution became part of the Arizona State System of Community Colleges in 1974. That early emphasis on occupational education is worth remembering. It reflects something fundamental about the community college concept. Education should connect with the real world.

Today, Mohave College serves western Arizona and neighboring communities with campuses in Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City and Colorado City, along with online education. The College is a regional workforce training center and an economic driver for Mohave County.

Planning For The Future

The name changed from Mohave Community College to Mohave College in 2025, reflecting the institution’s expanding mission. This included expanded workforce development, non-credit education and plans for bachelor’s degrees.

The name may be shorter. But the mission remains the same. There is an important distinction between credit and non-credit education. Credit courses generally lead toward a degree or certificate and carry academic credit.

Non-credit education is different. A person can take a non-credit class to develop a workplace skill, earn certain credentials or continuing education units, explore a career, learn a practical skill, pursue a hobby or simply discover something new. Mohave College specifically offers non-credit education through its Corporate and Community Education division. That flexibility matters because not everyone needs or wants a traditional semester-long college experience.

A business owner may need a customized workshop for employees, but a professional may need continuing education. The job seeker may need a short-term credential, but a retiree may want to learn woodworking or a parent may want a youth program for a child. Someone who has always wanted to learn welding might finally decide to give it a try.

Where Education Begins

Education does not have to begin with a question about a degree. Sometimes it begins with: “I’ve always wanted to learn how to do that.”

Mohave College’s Community Education program offers non-credit classes for personal enrichment, creativity, lifelong learning and youth development. Classes are designed to help people learn new skills, explore interests and connect with others. That last part is easy to overlook.

Our classes also offer an opportunity to connect with others. That is priceless as a healthy community isn’t merely a collection of houses, businesses and government buildings. It is a network of relationships. People who know one another are more likely to share ideas, support local organizations, volunteer, start businesses, participate in civic life and take pride in where they live.

A classroom can become one of the places where those relationships begin. A welding class can introduce neighbors, a cooking class can bring generations together and a technology class can help someone who has been intimidated by computers. At the same time a youth program can introduce a young person to an interest that eventually becomes a career, and a professional development workshop can connect employers with potential employees. That is community building in action.

There was a time when education was often viewed as something that happened at the beginning of life. We went to school, graduated, got a job, worked and then retired. That model doesn’t fit the modern economy.

Changing Needs

Technology changes and that causes industries, businesses and careers to change. The person who learned a trade 20 years ago may need new technology skills today. The business owner who started with one employee may eventually need management training. Someone who spent decades in one career may decide to begin another.

Lifelong learning isn’t a luxury. It is increasingly an economic necessity. There is something wonderfully American about the idea that you can decide, at almost any age, to learn something you’ve never known before. Corporate and community education should therefore not be viewed as an extra service sitting on the edge of a college’s traditional academic mission.

It is part of the original community college idea. A community college exists because the community has needs. That is why Corporate and Community Education at Mohave College matters. It brings education out of the traditional classroom model and into the lives of residents, employers, entrepreneurs, families and organizations throughout the region. And in the process, it helps fulfill a century-old idea.

In Part Two, we’ll look more closely at the economic side of that equation. This includes how corporate training, professional development, workforce education, small-business support and lifelong learning can help Mohave County businesses become stronger. This is also key for workers that want to remain competitive and to be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.

Written by Jim Hinckley’s America