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Before community colleges...
There were few public institutions offering two years of college, most of which were geared toward teacher preparation. -
Joliet Junior College founded
Joliet Junior College was founded in 1901 as a way for students to pursue a college education when the four year university route was too expensive. Classes were held on the campus of Joliet Township High School until 1969. -
Phoenix College founded
Similar to Joliet, IL, Phoenix Union High School Students had few convenient options for education beyond high school. Phoenix Junior College was founded in 1920 to meet that need; like Joliet Junior College it was first housed on the local high school campus. -
Phoenix College moves
Only 5 years after its founding, Phoenix Junior College moved away from the high school and set up on a new campus; it would take another 44 years for Joliet Jr. College to do the same thing. -
Oh, is this legal?
As of 1927, there was legislation which authorized the creation and maintenance of 2 year colleges within the state of Arizona... oops. -
NCA Accreditation
Phoenix Junior College was granted membership to the North Central Association; prior to 1928 its accreditation was in the form of letters from various colleges and universities agreeing to accept students' credits. -
Thomas Road
In the Fall of 1939 PJC students started attending classes at the current site of Phoenix College on Thomas Road. The first campus buildings were constructed through the WPA. -
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World War II
PJC did its part to help the war effort. The Civil Aeronautics Program at PJC was lauded as the best in the nation; the gym was converted to barracks for enlistees who were there to complete the program. Women were not left out, they were able to train to be cadet nurses. -
Welcome to Phoenix College
"On September 15th, Phoenix College opened its doors for the fall semester of 1947. The largest enrollment of students (1,269) in the history of the school found many new and revitalized features about the Thomas Road campus among which, was the agreeable fact that Phoenix College was no longer a Junior College - in name at any rate." (phoenixcollege.edu) -
Evening Division
In a move to accomodate more learners, the evening division was started, by 1951 half the enrollment would be attending in the evening. -
First African American Student Body President
PC seems to be well ahead of the curve. 57 years before the United States did it and 4 years before the public schools in Phoenix were desegregated, the PC student body elected an African American as their president. -
Cutting edge of technology
In 1957 PC evening classes started being aired on local TV. -
Breaking the glass celing
Dr. Mildred Bulpitt was appointed Dean of Evening Courses, she was one of the first women appointed to an administrative position and paved the way for many more to follow. -
Maricopa Jr. College District
The citizens of Maricopa County elected to create the Maricopa Junior College District (later renamed Maricopa Community College District). The Phoenix Union High School District would transfer Phoenix College to its jurisdiction a year later; the Mesa and Glendale Campuses were originally set up as satellite campuses of Phoenix College in 1963. The Maricopa County Skills Center (later became part of GateWay Community College) was set up for Vocational Education on the PUHS campus. -
Maricopa Technical College
Maricopa Technical College opened as the first Technical College in Arizona; this would later become GateWay Community College. -
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale Community College opens as an extension of MCC; it would move to it's present location in 1970. -
More Technology
Phoenix College is one of two colleges selected to pilot a computer-aided instruction program; they were given 100 computers to use for this purpose. -
Rio Salado
Rio Salado College opens in almost 200 locations across Maricopa County, making it the only valley wide college. -
South Mountain Community College
South Mountain Community College opens to serve students in south Phoenix, Laveen, Tempe, and the Gila River Reservation. -
2 more campuses
Chandler-Gilbert Community College opens to service the citizens of the southeast valley while Paradise Valley Community College serves Paradise Valley and North Scottsdale. -
Estrella Mountain Community College
EMCC opens to serve students in the southwest valley including Goodyear, Avondale, and Litchfield Park.
