Great Basin College is a member of the Nevada System of Higher Education. It is located in Elko, Nevada, USA and was opened in 1967 as "Elko Community College". The College was later renamed to "Northern Nevada Community College" and then to its current name.

The College offers only one online program and three types of online courses: online - the course is totally online, with no live or video interaction; hybrid courses - face-to-face instruction or IAV, integrated with online, where the estimated online time is combined with the live instruction to comprise a course; enhanced - total time of course is live or IAV with the online component as an enhancement. Instructor communicates with student(s), students communicate with instructor; special information sent back and forth (particularly for IAV courses).

Many institutions purchase online courses off the shelf. Bur GBC has chosen to develop home-grown courses. The curriculum specialist works individually with instructors who are developing new courses, improving an existing course, or trouble-shooting problems. Seventy percent of the specialist’s time goes to various aspects of improving online and interactive video courses.

Great Basin College is a comprehensive college that provides instruction and training for students interested in career and technical education, or those on an academic track towards an advanced degree. It is committed to upholding the standards of academic freedom and responsibility; effectively addressing the ever-evolving and often disparate needs of students — career seeking/enhancing, degree seeking, and casual — by means of innovative practices and technologies, resourcefulness, insight, and foresight; continually seeking improved methods and technologies for delivering education at a distance, across the rural 62,000 square mile service area; promoting the mutual enrichment, ongoing development, and collegiality of the faculty, staff, and administration toward the pursuit of excellence, while maintaining the personal, accessible presence of a real community college.

GBC practices open admission policies in order to make GBC courses accessible to a wide population. Very often courses have prerequisites, and some courses and programs may be limited in enrollment either by their nature or because of limited facilities. But there is a place for virtually every student at GBC — regardless of academic background.