This Community College Long Ago Shed The "13th Grade" Label

What began in 1970 as a one-building community college in Columbia — a structure that housed everything from administrative offices to a library to a cafeteria — has grown into a sprawling campus and cultural magnet that draws nearly one out of every four Howard County high school graduates. Howard Community College celebrated its 40th anniversary last week with a campuswide celebration. Marinich said that with the growing importance of community colleges on the nation's higher-education landscape, schools like HCC are now shedding some labels.He said like many other community colleges, HCC has been referred to as "a high school with ashtrays. The 13th grade. … They would say, 'You're not quite a real college.' But I think that's been fading. Read more at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bs-ho-howard-college-birthday-20101014,0,3645875.story