Kentucky's oldest community college, offering affordable associate degrees, certificates, and technical training since 1938.
ACTC offers 27 associate degree programs across five departments: Business Technology and Education, Health Sciences, Humanities, Manufacturing/Transportation/Industrial Technologies, and Math & Natural Science. The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees. It maintains partnerships with Marshall University, Shawnee State University, and the University of Kentucky through 2+2 transfer programs that guarantee course transferability. The college also operates the Ashland Area Innovation Center (business accelerator) and Entrepreneur Center (small business incubator).
ACTC operates two main campuses in Boyd County. The College Drive Campus in downtown Ashland houses business, education, health, information technology, and transfer programs, and features the Joseph and Sylvia Mansbach Library with over 40,000 volumes and federal depository status. The Technology Drive Campus in EastPark offers industrial technology programs including welding, electrical technology, and machine tool technology. Student life includes organizations such as Phi Theta Kappa honor society, Baptist Student Union, Drama Club, and Students in Free Enterprise, with a theater on the College Drive campus hosting student productions.
ACTC is an open-admissions community college with rolling admissions. The college requires placement testing and assessment for new students. Prospective students can schedule personalized campus visits or group visits through the admissions office. Online new student orientation is available, and the college offers an enrollment checklist to guide applicants through the process.
The college emphasizes workforce readiness through programs like Ready to Work and Work to Learn, which provide paid work experience, counseling, job readiness training, and GED preparation for low-income students. The Center for Community, Workforce and Economic Development partners with local businesses for performance-based training. ACTC has received significant endowment support, including a $1 million anonymous gift in 2007 for an endowed chair in mathematics and sciences.