History + Mission

Vision Statement

Norwalk Community College aspires to create a culture of inclusion and excellence through intellectual inquiry, open dialogue, multicultural awareness and lifelong learning. By embracing the diverse needs of our students, faculty, staff and community, the college will strive to provide an environment in which individuals are empowered to achieve their highest potential.

NCC’s Mission

Norwalk Community College is a leader and partner in the academic, economic, cultural and social well-being of Southwestern Connecticut. We are an educational community, which embraces diversity and inspires excellence among our students, faculty and staff.

• We provide affordable education leading to degree completion, transfer, professional certifications, employment and lifelong learning;
• We promote student learning and success through high quality instruction, support services and co-curricular activities;
• We support workforce development through partnerships with labor, business, industry, government and our communities;
• We cultivate vibrant community partnerships through the sponsorship of intellectual, cultural, social and recreational events and activities;
• We prepare our students to be active and responsible contributors to the global society.

Norwalk Community College was the first public, two-year college established in Connecticut.

NCC is the result of a merger between two institutions: Norwalk Community College and Norwalk State Technical College.

Norwalk State Technical College was founded in 1961 with a mission of preparing graduates for immediate employment as engineering technicians in Connecticut’s businesses and industries. Primary fields of study included engineering technologies, manufacturing, construction, data processing and communication.

The original Norwalk Community College was founded in 1961 as a municipal college. The institution was initially based at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk. In 1966, control of the college passed from the City of Norwalk to the State of Connecticut. The college moved to a site on Wilson Avenue in Norwalk and became a member of the Connecticut system of higher education.

In June 1989, groundbreaking officially took place for a new, permanent campus. The new facility on Richards Avenue was completed in time for Fall semester classes in 1991.

The NCC and NSTC campuses were both located on Richards Avenue, directly across the street from each other. On July 1, 1992, NCC and NSTC merged to become a comprehensive, public two-year college known as Norwalk Community-Technical College.

In 2000, Norwalk Community-Technical College was renamed Norwalk Community College to better reflect the institution’s role as a community resource and partner in the prosperity of Fairfield County.

In 1999, the NCC west campus was expanded to include the William H. Schwab Center for Information Technology. In 2010, the college broke ground on another expansion project, the Center for Science, Health and Wellness. This 55,000 square foot facility will open in Fall 2011. It will provide a new home to the growing Nursing and Allied Health Division program and state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms for the science program. The center also will include faculty offices, a Health and Wellness center, studios and simulated hospital patient care rooms.

More than 170,000 students have attended NCC since it opened in 1961. More Fairfield County students attend NCC than any other college in Connecticut.

By Linda P. Lerman
Norwalk, CT: Norwalk Community College, 2011
Copyright by Norwalk Community College, 2011

Origins of the Idea of Community Colleges in Connecticut

It was only 15 miles from Bridgeport to Norwalk, but the arrival in 1953 of the new Superintendent of Public Schools of Norwalk, Dr. Harry Becker, brought new ideas and a professional vision that would change the view and future of higher education in Norwalk and eventually impact the entire State of Connecticut.   Dr. Becker’s vision to establish a community college in Norwalk didn’t materialize from a desire to merely replicate the private Junior College of Connecticut in Bridgeport where he had spent majority of his time since graduating with a doctorate in educational psychology in 1944 from Yale University.  Rather when Dr. Becker first came to Norwalk he had as one of his objectives the establishment of a public junior college.  Becker believed that “the community college, more than any other institution, is the college of all the peoples.” (Barclay p.84)

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