HOUSTON – After more than 50 years, Houston Community College has a new name on the way.

News broke on this exciting news during an HCC’s Board of Trustees meeting June 18th. Houston Community College will now be named “Houston City College”. The colleges’ board of trustees voted 6-3 in favor of the rebranding of the school.

Besides the name, there will be many other changes coming to the HCC school system like expanding into bachelor’s degree programs. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools CommisSion on Colleges was able to approve HCC’s request to become a Level 2 institution. This approval is what HCC needed in order to be able to offer bachelor’s degrees on top of the associate’s degree which they are currently offering. Many other colleges around Texas have made the same move as HCC in order to reflect the expansion of their schools.

Chancellor Margaret Ford Fisher had been petitioning for the change since August of 2024. Her hope for this change is to boost enrollment and improve the image of HCC as a possible destination for students determined to get a 4-year degree. Some programs that will be offered for the 4-year degree will be robotics, health care management, business management and even artificial intelligence.

This name initiative began with a submission of new names from students, faculty, staff and the community itself. There were three other top contenders like, Houston College, City of Houston College, and Greater Houston College, but ultimately, they decided on Houston City College. KPRC Click2Houston created an online poll asking its readers on how they felt about the new name change. 14% felt indifferent, 36% liked the new name, and 50% said they hated it. Besides the name it seems like Chancellor Margaret wants to make sure people know that the schools’ purpose will not change. “As Houston City College, we will continue to provide quality, affordable instruction through certificates, associate and baccalaureate degrees at a community college price.”