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Celebrate 27 Years with VISTA!

This year, Northwest Vista College celebrates 27 years of Creating Opportunities for Success in the San Antonio community. The college is located in one of San Antonio’s fastest growing areas and continues to serve thousands of students every year in search of higher education. 

NVC Milestones:

  • NVC was established in 1994
  • Classes began in the fall of 1995 at partner sites, including the Northside Independent School District.
  • Enrollment that first semester was 12 students.
  • In 1998, NVC opened its first building.
  • The first graduating class was in 1998 and had 20 graduates.
  • In the 2008-09 academic year, NVC opened five new buildings.
  • In 2012, NVC was nationally recognized by the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.
  • In 2014, Dr. Jackie Claunch retired and Ric Baser became NVC President.
  • In 2018:
    • NVC held its 20th graduation ceremony.
  • In 2020: 
    • NVC is currently the third largest higher education institution in San Antonio.
    • NVC ranked No. 1 community college in Texas and No. 6 in the nation on the 2019 Best Colleges in America list released by Niche, a leading platform with 50 million users looking for information on K-12 schools and colleges in the U.S. The ranking is based on academic, admissions, financial aid and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as millions of reviews from students and alumni regarding value, academics, campus life and other factors important to students.
    • NVC is ranked No. 2 among the best community college in Texas by BestColleges.com  for key performance indicators including acceptance, retention, graduation, enrollment rates and loan default percentages as a measure of graduates’ success.
    • NVC ranked No. 4 community colleges in the nation for Hispanics based on enrollment and degree completion data by Hispanic Outlook on Education magazine.
    • NVC was awarded the 2018 “Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges” from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) and “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education” magazine. NVC is among 18 colleges selected for this award from over 300 qualifying in the Unites States. NVC is one of five colleges in Texas and the only college in San Antonio and within the Alamo College District to receive this award this year.
    • More than 17,000 students enrolled at NVC.
    • Dr. Ric Baser is the college’s current president.
  • 2020 – NVC becomes the first college within the Alamo Colleges District to establish a local chapter of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society.
  • In 2020 and 2021 NVC was awarded the “Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges” from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) and “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education” magazine.
  • In 2021, NVC held its 23rd commencement ceremony
  • Awards in 2021:
    • 2021 Best Colleges.com
    • #4 – Northwest Vista College
    • #10 – Palo Alto College
    • 18 – St. Philip’s College
    • 2022 Niche.com
    • #2 – Northwest Vista College
    • #7 – Palo Alto College
    • #11 – St. Philip’s College
    • #21 – San Antonio College
  • 2021 – NVC named to the list of Top 150 U.S. Community Colleges and qualifies to competed for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

Get Your Degree at NVC!

To learn about getting an associate degree at NVC, click here.