elementary to college group of students

Preparing you to be College and Career Ready

We partner with in-district middle and high schools to ensure all students develop the academic skills necessary to succeed in college and on the job.


We host free public-education events like the Career Exploration Showcase and Meet MCC to give you an glimpse of local career and educational opportunities.

We invite you to learn all that you can about getting a college education at our annual College Fair and about paying for a college education at our Financial Aid and FAFSA completion workshops.

  • Educational offerings to prepare students at every age
    • Kids and College summer camps - summer academy enrichment classes and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) camps
    • ScotsStars Sports Camps - baseball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball camps taught by college coaches
    • Dual Credit - earn college credit while you're in high school
    • Upward Bound - assisting Harvard High School students in completing high school and pursuing a college degree
    • ESL - English as a Second Language classes for adults whose native language is not English
    • HSE | GED prep - prepare for your high school equivalency exam. Classes offered in English and Spanish
  • Information Open Houses, Tours, and Community Events
    • Career Exploration Showcase - Middle school through high school sophomores and their parents are invited to learn about career possibilities from local professionals in manufacturing, healthcare, social assistance, marketing and more talk about what they do and demonstrate some of the jobs at those organizations
    • College Fair - Meet with representatives from over 120 colleges and universities
    • Private Illinois Colleges and Universities Day (PICU) - Meet with representatives from Illinois private colleges and universities
    • State University Transfer Day - Meet with representatives from Illinois state universities
    • Financial Aid and FAFSA Completion Workshops - Financial aid is tricky, we can help
    • Meet MCC - An exciting twist on MCC Night —from the comfort of your home!
    • Middle School Tours - Contact us to schedule a time for students, club members, and youth groups to tour campus and learn more about the benefits of attending college and discover the many resources MCC has to offer.
  • School Conferences
    • Accounting Encounter - In-county high school accounting students are invited to participate each spring. Students take either an accounting one or accounting two test, depending on what class they are taking in high school. Student teams and individual winners based on exam scores.
    • Academic Challenge Regional Competition - competitive series of tests (formerly Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering or WYSE program)
    • Coding Challenge - an annual event for high school students to complete and compare their programming skills
    • Culinary Challenge - teams design their own menu to show off their cooking skills.
    • Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) Regional Drafting Competition - winners qualify for the state competition at Illinois State University
    • Incubator - students learn to build a business through developing theories about a concept, testing, adapting and improving business plans
    • Marketing Challenge - teams work together to develop a marketing plan for McHenry County businesses
    • VEX Robotics Competition - student teams design, build, and program a robot to complete a list of tasks
  • Community tools and resources