Empowering Lives. Building Futures. Strengthening Communities.
Every year, Black Hawk College empowers over 8,000 students—from first-generation college-goers and career changers to skilled-trade apprentices—to discover new opportunities and transform their futures. Whether you are seeking a pathway to a four-year university, a high-demand technical career, or lifelong learning, Black Hawk College is dedicated to helping you reach your goals.
Black Hawk College began as Moline Community College in 1946 in the Moline High School to accommodate World War II veterans seeking higher education. Moline Community College was organized into three divisions—Moline Cooperative Extension of the University of Illinois, the Terminal Course Division for career training, and the Adult Education Division for personal enrichment. The college continued to offer transfer, career, and adult education classes, and in 1961, it became Black Hawk College—the first county-wide junior college in Illinois.
The College expanded as neighboring school districts petitioned to join the College district. In 1965, with the passage of "The Illinois Public Junior College Act," Black Hawk College became part of the state’s system of higher education, committed to offering traditional liberal arts, occupational, and adult education courses at its campus in Moline.
At the request of citizens from Kewanee, Illinois, the College expanded operations to communities in the southeastern portion of the district. Instruction was delivered at the Kewanee National Guard Armory and at Kewanee High School beginning in 1967.
Instruction began at the present site of the East Campus in 1971. Black Hawk College East operated independently of the Quad-Cities Campus from 1971 to 1989. At the request of the College, the North Central Association (NCA) approved the unification of the campuses in 1986, and the Illinois Community College Board approved the College as a single college with two campuses in 1989. The two campuses remain united, each offering a full complement of courses and curricula.
Today Black Hawk College offers more than 140 career and transfer programs and serves more people than any other institution of higher education in the Quad-Cities area. In 2023, over 85% of our career program graduates found employment in their field or pursued further education within six months of graduation, demonstrating our commitment to student success and community impact.
Black Hawk College operates within Illinois Community College District #503, an area encompassing 2,200 square miles in nine counties of northwestern Illinois (Bureau, Henderson, Henry, Stark, Whiteside, Knox, Marshall, Mercer, Rock Island). In addition to two full-service campuses in Moline and Galva, the College owns the Outreach Center in East Moline, Illinois; the Adult Learning Center (formerly the Technology Center) in Rock Island, Illinois; the Industrial Training Lab Extension Center in Moline, Illinois; the Community Education Center in Kewanee, Illinois; the Welding and Skilled Trades Center in Kewanee, Illinois; and leases space at the Illinois workNet Center in Moline, Illinois.