Houston Community College is officially changing its name to Houston City College after a board vote on June 18. The rebranding reflects the school's expanding roster of four-year degree programs and its effort to enhance its public image.
The board of trustees for Houston Community College changed the name of the school to Houston City College by a vote of 6-3 at a regular meeting on June 18. The school is undergoing significant changes with its rebranding as it continues to expand its academic programs and update its image.
By changing its name, the school aims to better reflect its growth into a provider of four-year bachelor's degree programs in cutting-edge fields such as healthcare management, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The college also wants to add three more bachelor's degrees: one in nursing, one in business management, and one in cybersecurity.
The chancellor, Margaret Ford Fisher, has been a strong supporter of the rebranding. She first called for it in August 2024. At the time, she said the move was "critically important" for changing how people saw things and getting more people to participate in advanced academic programs. She had said before, "We need to make sure that our name shows not only who we are but also where we are going."
Houston City College is following the national trend of community colleges becoming four-year schools, especially in high-demand and workforce-driven fields, by dropping the word "community" from its name. Administrators believe that the new name will attract students who might not have considered the college as a pathway to a bachelor's degree otherwise.
Three trustees voted against the change, making it a non-unanimous decision. However, people who like the new name argue that it reflects both the college's expanding ambitions and its urban identity. It has been slowly gaining recognition as a center for technical, medical, and STEM-focused education, and it now has more than 100,000 students from across the Houston area.
The change to the new name will happen in stages. In the next few months, new signs, digital branding, and marketing efforts will be implemented.
This news was initially published in the Houston Business Journal. Go to their website for more news about businesses in your area.
