We envision Red Rocks as a national and international leader in community college education that is recognized for accomplishments of our students’ goals, engagement with our community, empowerment in our workplace, and commitment to our values.
Our mission is to provide students with opportunities for growth and development that set the foundation for self-directed learning, academic achievement, and career accomplishment. We do this through high quality innovative educational programs that convey our passion for learning, our commitment to excellence, our dedication to our students, and the communities we serve.
- Are in compliance with legal and professional standards.
- Exhibit honesty, fairness, and ethical behavior.
- Take responsibility for our work and are accountable to our internal and external stakeholders.
- Are transparent in our goals and methods.
- Care about the quality of our work, and actively pursue innovation and efficiency in what we do.
- Strive to create a supportive environment for our students, faculty, and staff.
- Work together outside of our immediate unit or division to improve student academic success and development.
- Demonstrate that we value people, especially students and our co-workers, in our working relationships.
- Engage in teamwork that is based on trust, empowerment, and respect.
- Demonstrate a passion for life-long learning and develop this in our students and community.
- Create learning opportunities for our current and future students through community involvement and connection with external stakeholders.
- Dedicate ourselves to scholarship and professionalism that creates innovative and creative learning environments for students, community, and ourselves.
- Develop and deliver engaging learning opportunities that promote student growth as a whole person; intellectually, through their career, and through the development of personal abilities such as adaptability and initiative.
- Develop procedures and programs that weave diversity throughout the daily work of the college.
- Demonstrate respect for differences among students and within the community in all we do as a college.
- Expect students to share that same respect and communicate that expectation to them often, both in and out of the classroom.
- Develop our students’ and our own abilities to recognize and engage with human differences through understanding and inclusion rather than withdrawal and exclusion.
- Practice meaningful, considerate communication with our students and with each other.
- Whenever possible seek opportunities for an unconstrained exchange of information and ideas through dialogue that is timely, respectful, and appreciative of others.
- Give appropriate feedback in a way that makes room for others’ perspectives and encourages rather than constrains continuing dialogue.
- Purposefully build our ability to communicate effectively as part of working and learning with others.
We deliver career-enhancing courses, certificate programs and degrees that represent a solid investment in each student's goals and career success. We embrace the leadership role of providing education that is firmly rooted in real-world applicability.
Through academic excellence and the breadth of our student population, we provide a pathway that is true to our local, state, national and international communities and support changing trends as they impact the success of our student's career and educational goals.
Our high value and academic rigor, combined with dedicated faculty, outstanding student life, and a strong learning support system, make Red Rocks the smart choice for meeting educational goals.
Red Rocks Community College has campuses in Lakewood and Arvada. Courses are delivered in formats from traditional classroom, online, self-paced, and weekend classes.
Degree Programs Available
Certificate Programs Available
Online courses offered
In the spirit of healing, Red Rocks Community College acknowledges and honors the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Ute Tribes, recognizing that the land occupied by RRCC is located in the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of these Indigenous peoples.
We also acknowledge and honor the forty-eight known tribal nations that have lived, traded and traveled this land throughout history. RRCC recognizes the significant contribution of Indigenous cultures in our State, within our communities and within the land on which we are privileged to gather, live, learn, and work today. We recognize the vital importance of honoring these beginnings and the dedication and importance of Indigenous voices who courageously bring the truth of our history as a state.
The theft of Indigenous land occurred alongside vicious brutalities that were inflicted on Indigenous Americans, and culminated in a senseless atrocity, known as the Sand Creek Massacre in November of 1864 (site located in Eads, Colorado). This massacre resulted in the deaths and bodily mutilations of upwards of 200 innocent Arapaho and Cheyenne people, two-thirds of whom were women and children.
RRCC acknowledges that the racist aggressions, systemic injustices, and blatant murders committed by the US government and settlers against the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Ute and all peoples of the Americas, have yet to be satisfactorily addressed or acknowledged through adequate actions of restorative justice. RRCC stands in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of Colorado as they seek equity and reparation in their ancestral homelands.
We are one of the finest higher education institutions in Colorado. Here's why:
- Our faculty are accessible, highly qualified, and focused on teaching. RRCC is the only community college in Colorado to have an Endowed Teaching Chair Program and has awarded 20 Endowed Teaching Chairs in support of Teaching Excellence.
- RRCC offers numerous degrees and certificates in today's most in-demand career fields including Health Careers, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Computer Technology, Fire Science, Law Enforcement, and many more.
- We offer flexible course schedules that fit around work or home commitments, including traditional classroom, online, self-paced, and weekend classes.
- RRCC combines rigorous, high-value education with tuition that is among the lowest in the state, and we offer many Financial Aid options and scholarships through our Foundation, which has provided over $4 million in scholarships to nearly 3,000 students and was recognized nationally as the 2014 Scholarship Provider of the Year.
- Our AA/AS General Education Transfer Program is accepted by all of Colorado's state four-year colleges and universities, and RRCC transfers more students into Colorado School of Mines than any other college in the nation.
- RRCC is home to the Rocky Mountain Education Center, which includes an OSHA authorized education center serving the six-state Region VIII.
- We offer Computer Technology, CISCO Academy, and Multimedia programs that are among the most popular and respected in the region.
- RRCC's support services include free tutoring, advising, a Child Care center, Accessibility Services, a Fitness Center, the Learning Commons, English as a Second Language resources, Student Life, and Student Employment. Our Office of Inclusion and Diversity creates and supports equity in access, developmental opportunities, and holistic education for all students.