Accounting & Finance Options at Portland Community College
Portland Community College appears in our ranking of the Top 50 Best Associates in Accounting Online.
Portland Community College offers four degree and certificate programs for students interested in studying accounting and finance. Students who want to earn a degree will pursue the Associate of Applied Science: Accounting. Those who wish to earn a certificate will pursue one of three certificates that include the Accounting Clerk Certificate, the Accelerated Accounting Certificate, or the Entry-Level Accounting Clerk Certificate.
Students who enroll in the associate degree program will cover topics like payroll, law, tax, business math, computerized accounting applications, financial management, and general accounting. The degree is also designed to offer instruction in problem-solving, communication, critical thinking, and organization. Virtually all of the classes for the accounting degree may be earned online.
The college offers different credits each semester, and students can choose to meet with a class adviser to ensure they are enrolling in the right classes at the right time. Some of the classes offered in any given semester include Introduction to Accounting, Intro to Business Technology, Payroll Accounting, and Business Communication.
Further classes include Financial Survival, Intro to Business Technology, Management Fundamentals, and Principles of Accounting. Students may also participate in a cooperative education experience where future accountants can work in areas that include bookkeeping, international business, purchasing, finance, advertising, banking, or marketing.
Students may choose to enroll in a certificate program instead of the associate degree program if they want to spend one year instead of two years at college. For the one-year Accounting Clerk Certificate program, students must complete 48 credits in classes like Payroll Accounting, Beginning Keyboarding, and Principles of Accounting.
There is also the option of the Accelerated Accounting Less Than One-Year Certificate, which requires that students complete 29 credits. Students may be invited to substitute a class if they’ve already taken classes in full-cycle bookkeeping responsibilities. Classes required include Beginning Excel, Computer Accounting Applications, Introduction to Accounting, and Job Finding Skills.
The college has one additional less-than-one-year certificate, which is the Entry-Level Accounting Clerk: Career Pathway Certificate. The program requires that students complete 14 credits that include Introduction to Business, Introduction to Business Technology, Computer Accounting Applications, and Introduction to Accounting. After the pathway certificate program is complete, students can choose to enroll in the associate degree program if they decide to pursue an accounting career.
About Portland Community College
Portland Community College is located in Portland, Oregon, and offers classes to students across Multnomah County and nearby areas. The campus covers 256 acres in Portland and was established in 1961. More than 83,000 students attend the school, which got its start in a local elementary school. The college was part of the local school district until citizens voted to create an independent district for the college.
Students can attend classes at a handful of campuses throughout the Portland area. Locations include a campus in the southeast that was once the home of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and another in north Portland called the Cascade campus. Another campus is in Rock Creek, which is near Hillsboro and has operated since 1976. A final campus is in Sylvania, which is in southwest Portland. The college’s official colors are turquoise and navy.
Portland Community College Accreditation Details
Institutional accreditation for Portland Community College has been granted by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Institutional accreditation allows the college to award college degrees to its students. The college was last reaffirmed in 2016 and is reaccredited once a decade. The college participates in mid-cycle reports every few years. There are also some programs with programmatic approval from other agencies.
The associate degree in nursing is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. The dental assisting, dental hygiene, and dental laboratory technology programs are accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation. The radiologic technology program is accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology.
Portland Community College Application Requirements
First-year students who recently graduated from high school and want to enroll at Portland Community College will complete the official application and follow the application steps for their expected status. The college has slightly different application requirements for credit, non-credit, and high school dual credit students. The college requires that students submit transcripts from high school to complete the application process.
There are also options to apply as international students or in community education classes that don’t award credit. The college even had special application procedures for students under the traditional enrollment age of 18. Applications from international students require a passport photo, academic transcripts, proof of English proficiency, and proof of having the right amount of financial resources to pay for classes and enrollment.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Portland Community College divides its tuition rates into resident and non-resident amounts. The cost for residents of Oregon is $116 per credit, and the cost for non-residents is $251 per credit. Students can enjoy the resident rate even if they’re not a resident of Oregon if they live in the surrounding states of Washington, California, Idaho, or Nevada. The college also charges some general fees alongside its per-credit tuition.
Mandatory fees include a $5.30 technology fee for each credit taken, a $3.40 student activity fee for each credit, and an online learning fee of $20 per course. Students will also pay a lab fee that will range up to $45 if they participate in a laboratory class. Enrollees also pay a college service fee of $15 each term, as well as a transportation fee of $8 per term.
The financial aid process at Portland Community College begins with the student’s submission of a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The school code for Portland Community College is 003213. Students can submit their financial aid before they’ve applied to Portland Community College and will submit an updated form each year they remain enrolled at the college. Applicants will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) a few days after they submit their FAFSA form.
A financial aid award notice will follow from the college after the student has successfully applied. Students may want to pursue gift aid from institutional, federal, and state sources. Students must fill out the PCC Foundation Scholarship application for a chance to receive a scholarship from Portland Community College.
