Most folks in and around Houston Community College are ready for the school to take on a new persona — Houston College? Bayou City College? — but support for a name change isn’t overwhelming.

A survey of over 1,800 students, business owners, parents and residents over two months revealed considerable approval of rebranding HCC, which could involve removing the word “community” from its name, according to a 100-page report released this week. Nearly 60 percent of respondents support a rebrand, while about 30 percent said they feel neutral about it. 

HCC Chancellor Margaret Ford Fisher has championed changing the name of the 54-year-old college, calling it a necessary step in building more credibility with employers, propping up the school’s new bachelor’s degree programs and ditching the stigma associated with community college. A handful of other two-year institutions have dropped “community” from their names in the last five years, including Dallas and Southwest Texas colleges.

But HCC trustees, who will ultimately decide whether to approve a name change, weren’t in a hurry to make any changes during a Wednesday board meeting. 

After an hour-long closed session out of sight from the public, trustees unanimously voted to postpone a motion that would have allowed Ford Fisher to present a short list of name ideas for a vote. Several trustees mentioned they wanted to dig into the research more thoroughly. 

Board members, who have shown mixed support for Ford Fisher’s proposal, ultimately tabled any further name change actions until a meeting in June. 

“I think we just need to understand the financial implications of this before we carry on the discussion much further,” Trustee Sean Cheben said. Board Chair Eva Loredo did not respond to a call from the Landing Thursday morning

The troves of data presented did not document many negative reactions to the idea. 

Participants, however, were split on how much of a difference a new name would make for HCC’s reputation and if leaders should retain the term “community college.” Ford Fisher hasn’t advocated for a specific title, instead encouraging community members to submit their own ideas. 

‘No longer a community college’

Ford Fisher first introduced the idea of changing the college’s name to trustees at a board meeting in August 2024. She was adamant that they must rebrand as more than a “community college” because HCC now offers several bachelor’s degree programs. She also said HCC’s name could hamper students in the job market, making it harder for them to compete with students who have bachelor’s degrees from universities. 

“It’s no longer a community college. It is at the four-year level,” Ford Fisher told trustees at the August meeting. “I think the question would be, since we have these programs and we have students who are in the (four-year) pipeline, how competitive will they be as they seek employment with companies?”

The idea came as a shock to some trustees, whose reactions varied between agreement, hesitancy and disapproval. At the time, Ford Fisher emphasized the importance of making the move quickly, and said as much at HCC’s November State of the College event that hundreds of people — including college staff, students, elected officials and business owners — attended. Her administration planned to present research on the benefits of a name change to the board in late November 2024. 

But before that presentation rolled around, trustees told her administration to pump the brakes and spend more time gathering input. Several said they wanted to see extensive research about the community’s thoughts before moving forward. 

Ford Fisher’s administration spent the past five months partnering with public relations firm Outreach Strategies to gather feedback from community members. HCC hosted 10 community meetings, five focus groups, spoke with 65 employers in the area and circulated the survey to over 1,800 people. The firm targeted current students, alumni, prospective students, parents of students, high school teachers, HCC faculty and local employers to complete the survey. 

‘Open to change’

The results of the months-long research don’t indicate a resounding “yes,” but they do show appetite for change. 

While 59 percent of people said they ultimately support a new name for HCC, they were more split on how much it would change their perception of the college. Most people said their opinion of the college would not shift, while a smaller share said it would improve. 

Community members were also divided on whether leaders should keep “community college” in the new title. Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents said the phrase should stay, while equal shares said the college should ditch it or they didn’t have a preference. 

Ford Fisher hasn’t shown much desire for retaining the term “community college,” arguing that employers could view a community college degree as less valuable. Among those surveyed, 64 percent said the name of a college influences their perception of its graduates as employees. However, the report does not clarify if that influence is positive or negative. 

“I live by the motto that in order to grow, you have to be open to change. And sometimes growth is uncomfortable, but growth is also necessary,” Trustee Renee Jefferson Patterson said Wednesday. “I personally feel it makes our students more marketable when they are applying for jobs. I think that it places us in a position to be a little bit competitive with those that have attended four-year institutions.”

While administrators have not officially proposed a specific title, the report notes “Houston College” was most popular among community members in response to a short-answer question asking for name ideas. Other popular options include “Houston City College” and “Bayou City College.”

“‘Houston College’ emerges as the most widely supported name option, representing a bold yet thoughtful evolution of HCC’s identity — one that maintains its local roots while projecting a broader, more competitive academic mission,” Outreach Strategies employees wrote in the report. 

Ford Fisher and six of the nine trustees didn’t offer extensive comments about the research at the meeting Wednesday. 

A timeline in the report showed that administrators wanted trustees to vote on a new name by May 7. After trustees’ vote to postpone Wednesday, they will not see the chancellor’s short list of names until June at the earliest.

Miranda Dunlap covers Houston’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus. Despite roughly half of Houston’s higher-education students attending community colleges, there hasn’t been much news covering these systems or students — until now. Her reporting holds institutions accountable, highlights barriers faced by students and helps them navigate their opportunities. Reach Miranda at miranda@houstonlanding.org or on Twitter and Instagram.

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