Portland Community College Reviews

  • 11 Reviews
  • Portland (OR)
  • Annual Tuition: $9,670
50% of 11 students said this degree improved their career prospects
36% of 11 students said they would recommend this school to others
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Student & Graduate Reviews

Austin W
  • Reviewed: 5/7/2023
  • Degree: Electrical Engineering
"I would not recommend PCC for a choice of education. My education is paid for by my employer and I chose PCC due to its association with my employer. I took math classes. In my first class I was being graded on English formatting not the math. I was pulling a D- consistently and then I looked up the professor reviews and found 2 stars for the professor with many complaining about the same things. My first advisor was not able to properly advise STEM students. He then eventually emailed me that he was no longer my advisor and someone else would be assigned who I never heard from. I dropped the math class and took the same class later with a different teacher and hardly passed with a C. For the other classes I took I consistently found the course work was outdated and not relevant. I took a geography class referring to countries and events that have changed like the status of Ukraine. Assignments in English writing and math were all focused on articles that were outdated and made before covid. Many discussions surrounded covid entirely and were not even relevant anymore with facts and stats that are no longer true. It seems this college setup online learning for covid then stopped updating classes. The math booth they use is a textbook made by the faculty and there are large gaps in what is being asked of you compared to the textbook given information. Also each math program uses a program that is made by PCC to do homework practice sheets and the majority of your time will be spent doing practice sheets that are a large part of your grade but are not spent teaching you. The actual teaching time is limited there are no lectures live and it is all pre recorded. I found myself having to use outside resources and videos many times. I ended up transferring to a university and because PCC is 4 terms a year. None of my credits transferred to by university that does semesters. Do your research. Don't go to this school."
E.H.
  • Reviewed: 4/5/2023
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"PCC offers free tuition for senior citizens under the Senior Audit program, but they make it virtually impossible to get into the program. Their teachers do not understand the program and require multiple contacts before they respond to emails. You can not be registered until the first day of class. Some courses are core classes that do do qualify for audit, but there is no notification of this. I think they have the program so they can “virtue signal” and then try to make it inaccessible due to costs. All in all, PCC does a terrible job regarding seniors and the disabled."
Colleen
  • Reviewed: 5/25/2021
  • Degree: Biology
"This is a useless program. I did not get a career in biotech afterwards, they make it sound like it's a guarantee. Instead I was so severely stressed the entire time that I legitimately have a form of PTSD. Biggest mistake of my life. It is not disability friendly, and when I had panic attacks from the unfair conditions, I was treated like a child and embarrassed in front of the class. PCC itself has great disability services, but stay far, far away from the BIT program. Now I'm in debt and in a worse place than I started. It destroyed my mental health and everyone was more stressed than those in the nursing program (infamously stressful program). I wish I had been under the previous program director, because it was an absolute mess of a program. Don't do it!!!!"
Megan N.
  • Reviewed: 12/1/2020
  • Degree: Business Administration
"Worst college with the worst faculty!! Please save yourself and never take admission here because you are gonna regret your decision forever. The financial aid department is the worst, they STEAL YOUR FAFSA MONEY and DO NOT RELEASE IT. They don't care if you have the money to go there or not, they just see you as dollar signs and a number. Not helpful and not very unprofessional :). The teachers are not that involved and they tend to slack on homework and testing us!"
Jane Doe
  • Reviewed: 10/24/2019
  • Degree: Healthcare Administration
"Awful college. No help from any of the faculty. The adviser gave me false information causing me to take too many classes at a time. And when I went for orientation, the adviser told me I would be taking an English comprehension class, what it turned out being was an advanced writing class that I was not prepared for and do not actually need to get into the degree program I want to be in. The same with the math class. I did not need a high-difficulty algebra class, but that is what I was put into. When asking for help, because I take my classes online, I am told I need to email or call. When I email, I am not responded to, and when I call, the faculty I speak with are extremely rude and will not answer questions I have, and then tell me I need to go in person, but when I go to the school in person, they tell me I'm not allowed to speak to anyone in person and to call. They will not help you and could care less if you succeed."
Social Justice Heavy
  • Reviewed: 4/16/2019
  • Degree: Liberal Arts
"Extremely heavy on social justice. Singled out constantly for my skin color and gender as evil and a problem. Lower grades than other ethnicities and gender for same, or more work done. This was noted by even other gender and ethnicities as incorrect. This school is concerned about forcing an Orwellian future, not education. This education will not advance you in a career and the graduation rate shows it. The students are in charge. The students are not ready for school and are there for the loans. They drop the class after disbursements."
Nate
  • Reviewed: 11/25/2018
  • Degree: Welding
"I would not recommend PCC for welding. Their are too many students. The instructor student ratio is 1 instructor for 20-30 students. Welding is hands on and with that instructor ratio it is makes learning to weld hard. Their welding program is just the basic welding training. Nothing special and they dont even help you find a job. Its not a good place to learn to weld. Go somewhere else."
Health Information Management
  • Reviewed: 4/27/2018
  • Degree: Healthcare Administration
"DO NOT TAKE THIS DEGREE. Unless you have an eidetic memory, already work in the field and can critically analyze with little to no information. The teachers do not update teaching material so you are left guessing what is correct and current and what is outdated and wrong the entire 2 years. This incorrect information is then re-enforced thru incorrect answers in quizzes and testing for which STUDENTS are having to notify teachers that this information is incorrect and then NOT receiving credit because they screwed up. The teachers are burnt out and give little to no feed back and asking for explanations on subjects that are not clear to you, you get unneeded retort and they treat you like your stupid because you didn't get it the first time. There are no additional learning aids for those who do not learn simply from reading. The current director is burnt out and need to retire. The program is set up in a non logical order where you are expected to remember a miniscule detail that you covered in a single sentence 2 years ago. There is zero repetition of subject matter which leads to the inability to remember anything. The other person who reviewed for this degree must have been working in the field at the time because they do not prepare you for anything."
Karah Gossman
  • Reviewed: 3/15/2017
  • Degree: Art & Design
"Portland Community College is a very diverse and welcoming atmosphere. The student body is filled with people of all ages, orientations, and genders, with no discrimination to one group. The teachers are understanding of work getting in the way of school and are graciously lenient. The campuses are very well maintained and easy to get to. In addition, the online courses are plentiful and just as rewarding as on campus classes. I would highly recommend this college to any other."
A.H.
  • Reviewed: 8/6/2014
  • Degree: Nursing
"Portland Community College is a good school for low income students, single parents, and, students that have to work while attending school. Most of the instructors are very understanding regarding; that for most of us college is not our first priority because; we have familes at home. As long as you are a student that will not make excuses as to why you don't finish"many" assignments. I have been attending PCC since 2011. I have had a pretty good college experience academically but, I will say all students should be aware of the schools Advisors. Most of them know absolutely nothing about advising for the medical field and, they do not care about the student as a whole. They are just there for a paycheck and to fill classrooms. So, my advice is to pick your own classes and keep track of your own progress. If you do relie on them as I did you could possibly be in school for three years at a two year college and, still not have an associates degree. Even though, I have racked up thousands of dollars in student loans and my government grant are now completely depleted!"
Cassandra Heitzman
  • Reviewed: 8/6/2014
  • Degree: Health Education
"The Health Information Management degree program under Associate of Applied Sciences is the best degree I could have chosen. This program prepares in every way for the field to make sure you're completely prepared."