Aims Community College

In 1965 Kirby Hart of Greeley suggested that a two-year college should be considered for Northern Colorado. On January 24, 1967, the voters in 11 of Weld County’s 12 public school districts approved creation of the Community College District.

Ed Beaty was named the first president of Aims Community College. On September 27, 1967 the first day of classes began in Greeley with 949 students enrolled. In May 1968 the first class graduated and three students received degrees. In 1969, a permanent 175-acre (0.71 km²) site for the college was purchased on the western edge of Greeley along what is now 20th Street and 47th Avenue. In 1975, Beaty died while in office.

Upon Beaty's death, Richard A. Laughlin was appointed acting president of Aims Community College in September 1975. In May 1976, Laughlin was permanently named the second president of Aims Community College. In December 1976, the Physical Education Center was opened on the Greeley campus. Upon Laughlin's exit from the role of Aims president in February 1979, Jerry A. Kiefer was named acting president.

In August 1979, George R. Conger was appointed Aims Community College's president. In 1984, The South Campus opened west of Fort Lupton. In 1987 Aims opened a campus in downtown Loveland. In April 1992 Aims celebrated its 25th anniversary. Conger retired in October 1997 after 18 years in the role of Aims president. Jerry A. Kiefer was named acting president.

August 31, 2004, was the first day of the semester system, replacing the quarter system. In 2005 Aims was named one of the top 10 Digital Community Colleges for digital education. January 2017 marked Aims' 50th Anniversary. In August 2019, Aims opened a new flight hangar at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport, closing its flight hangar at the Greeley-Weld County Airport.

The campus in west Greeley with 11 buildings overlooks 100 miles of Rocky Mountain grandeur. Students can apply, register for classes, meet with advisors, and get information on financial aid in our One-Stop Shop in the College Center. Of the 7,000 students who attend Aims annually, 70 percent take classes at the Greeley campus.

The Aims Fort Lupton campus is located one and one-half miles east of downtown Fort Lupton.

Aims' Agricultural Sciences and Technology Department is based on the Fort Lupton campus where it offers transfer degrees to Colorado State University in Soil and Crop Science, Agriculture Business, Horticulture and Animal Science. The program also offers two-year A.A.S. degrees in Agribusiness, Production Agriculture and Animal Science along with one-year certificates in Precision Agriculture, Agribusiness Management, Production Agriculture Mechanics, Production Agriculture and Crops and Animal Science.

The Aims Loveland campus is located in the heart of the community in downtown Loveland.

The Aims Automotive & Technology Center is a state-of-the-art technology and education center located near I-25 and US-34, which opened in January 2010. This centrally located 45,000-square-foot facility offers convenient drive times from the major population areas of northern Colorado.

The Aims Automotive & Technology Center offers automotive programs and academic classes. The facility is a high-tech learning environment that includes smart-technology classrooms, wired and wireless computer labs, a science lab and conference rooms.

Automotive Service Technology, Collision Repair and Refinishing, Light Diesel Repair and Upholstery classes are offered at the Center. The programs are nationally recognized and certified in both secondary and post-secondary educational systems with accreditation provided by the National Automotive Technicians and Education Foundation (NATEF).

The 10-acre Public Safety Institute (PSI) opened in January 2016 adjacent to the Automotive & Technology Center. PSI houses Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Fire Science, Medical Assisting, Phlebotomy and Criminal Justice (CJ). Amenities include a 53,000 square-foot, two-story, state-of-the-art building, drill ground area for fire, police and EMS training, training tower, science lab, smart classrooms, computer rooms, CPAT (Candidate Physical Ability Test) testing, student services (registration, Accuplacer testing, advising, tutoring), simulation rooms for paramedic and EMT training workout room for physical fitness training, medical assistant lab with exam rooms, locker rooms and general education offerings so students can complete their degree requirements on site. The facility also houses a sand table used for fire modeling and planning and the first Anatomage table ordered in the state of Colorado, which is a virtual 4D cadaver resembling an operating table that has the ability to load data from real-life patient or cadaver x-rays, MRI scans and nuclear scans.

The Windsor campus is a full educational experience including general education classes such as biology, chemistry, art, history, humanities, mathematics and English. Classes are held day, night and weekends at the newest Aims Community College location, offering expanded convenience for students located throughout the Aims service area and beyond.