Individuals should direct their questions, comments, or concerns to:

Higher Learning Commission
230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604
800-621-7440

About Crowder College

Crowder College: Building a civil, serving, literate, learning community of responsible citizens.

Crowder College is a comprehensive community college situated in the beautiful Ozark region of Southwest Missouri. The College was founded in 1963 by a vote of district citizens in five contiguous school districts in McDonald and Newton Counties, which composes the formal college district. The College is also assigned a nine-county service region which extends north up the Oklahoma and Kansas state lines to Vernon County and east along the Arkansas state line to Barry County. Crowder is well respected in the community, state, and nation. Crowder has been named as one of the “Great Colleges to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education the last 5 of 7 years.

Crowder College is also affiliated with the Missouri Department of Higher Education and seeks approvals through the Coordinating Board of Higher Education. Information may be accessed on the Missouri Department of Higher Education.

Guiding Principals

Mission
Building a civil, serving, literate, learning community of responsible citizens.

Vision
Changing lives and strengthening communities – one person at a time.

Philosophy
The Crowder College family lives by the principles of servant leadership.  The faculty and staff believe modeling leadership through service creates an environment of academic excellence and encourages our students to lead by serving in their communities.

Values

We are passionate about making a difference.
We care about one another.
We cultivate curiosity and innovation.
We respect diverse perspectives.
We learn from our mistakes.

A Glimpse of Crowder History

In the fall of 1964, the college began operation in left-over buildings from Camp Crowder, with 361 students and high expectations. In the ensuing years Crowder has added buildings and programs, and now enrolls over 4,000 college credit students and serves several thousand others annually in industrial training, adult literacy programs, and continuing education.

The real beginnings of the college date back to 1941 when, as part of the general buildup leading into World War II, Camp Crowder was built. The Camp sprawled over 65,000 acres and had thousands of buildings. The college is named both for the Camp and for General Enoch Crowder, a prominent Missourian and soldier for whom the camp was named. During the four years of the war, the area was transformed and Neosho became a “camp town,” with over 40,000 soldiers, plus support personnel, families, and civilian workers. As the war ended, demobilization left the camp a ghost town. Many of the buildings were sold and moved and others were left to deteriorate.

Newton and McDonald Halls were constructed by the government in 1956-58 as Bachelor Officer Quarters, with anticipation of a permanent military base. Minds changed, the base was again closed, and the government looked for positive ways to disperse the Camp land and buildings. Insightful leaders of the two-county area envisioned the potential for creating a junior college from the remains of the camp, and through their work, Crowder College became a reality.