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Parkland at a Glance - About Us - Parkland College

About Parkland

Parkland at a Glance

A History of Service

Parkland College is a fully accredited, public community college established to serve the needs of District 505, the third largest community college district in Illinois. Parkland has delivered vocational-technical and academic instruction to more than 210,000 people since its classes began in 1967, according to 2006 data. Our college has become a center for educational opportunity and community enrichment in east central Illinois and has earned a national reputation for its excellent academic standards, innovative programs, and quality instruction.

Campus and Facilities

Built on 233 acres of landscaped grounds in Champaign, Illinois, Parkland is centrally located and accessible to all 54 communities in the district. Our beautiful, quiet campus is situated near the intersection of interstate highways 57, 72, and 74 and is just a seven- to 10-minute drive from the University of Illinois campus. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to reach Parkland from downtown Chicago and Indianapolis and 3 1/2 hours from St. Louis.

Our facilities include more than 85 classrooms, 60 specialized labs, a library collection of over 120,000 volumes, an FM radio station, an educational TV station, an experimental agricultural land laboratory, an art gallery, and excellent physical education and recreation facilities, including a fitness center. Our cultural center contains a 320-seat performing arts theater and a 50-foot dome planetarium, the second largest in Illinois. Parkland also has a child development center to serve the needs of faculty, staff, students, and families in our community.

Our students appreciate the safety of the Parkland campus, the access to plenty of free parking, and the convenience of our food-service operations. Parkland's Public Safety officers are state-licensed emergency medical technicians who can respond to on-campus police, medical, and safety emergencies in less than two minutes. When classes are in session, students select from a variety of food choices at Gulliver's or pick up pizzas, subs, or salads at the on-campus Mamma Leone's restaurant.

Caring, Competent Faculty

At Parkland College, student development is our primary concern. Classes are small and are taught by highly qualified, experienced instructors who bring their professional expertise, varied life experiences and backgrounds, as well as the latest teaching concepts into the classroom. Our non-teaching faculty include more than a dozen full-time counselors and librarians. Parkland offers distance education on a variety of subjects through interactive telecourses and online courses, most of them taught by full-time faculty.

Degree programs and academic services

Parkland maintains approximately 100 degree and certificate programs designed for career and job placement or for transfer to programs at four-year institutions. The college confers the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Fine Arts, Associate in Engineering Science, Associate in Applied Science, and Associate in General Studies degrees in an array of traditional and nontraditional disciplines. See our catalog for degree/course descriptions. We also provide numerous academic support services and resources, including the library, peer tutoring, the Writing Center, the Learning Lab, the Academic Development Center, and online student learning tools and activities.

Diverse Student Body

Parkland College enrolls approximately 18,000 students annually. Our campus is a melting pot of student life, with cultures as diverse as the communities we serve, students ranging in age from 16 to 66+, and a growing international student presence. A third of our students live and work within District 505.

Community Education

Parkland's adult and continuing education program offers credit and noncredit courses that meet the needs of special populations within our district, such as teachers, businesspersons, retirees, and K-12 students. Many residents will take a course here for personal development, career enhancement, or just plain fun.

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