Palm Beach Community College

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Palm Beach Community College
Motto Expect More
Established 1933
Type Public
President Dennis P. Gallon
Staff 700
Students 48,000
Location Lake Worth, Florida, USA
Campus Urban
Athletics 4 major sports teams
Nickname Panthers
Website www.pbcc.edu

Located in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach Community College (PBCC) enrolls over 48,000 students in more than 100 programs of study including associate of arts and associate of science degree programs and short-term certificates.

Contents

[edit] Locations

Palm Beach Community College's main campus is located in Lake Worth, Florida. Additional campuses are located in Belle Glade, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach Gardens.

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

Palm Beach Community College was founded in 1933 as Palm Beach Junior College and was the first public junior college in the state of Florida. The college's first classes were held at Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach. County school superintendent Joe Youngblood and Howell Watkins, principal of Palm Beach High School, who became the college's first dean, were instrumental in opening the college. The college's initial goal was to provide adidtional training to local high school graduates who were unable to find jobs during the Great Depression.

[edit] "The Little Orphan College" finds a home in Lake Worth

In 1948, Palm Beach Junior College moved to Morrison Field, a deactivated Army Air Force base, which is now Palm Beach International Airport. In 1951, the college relocated to the Lake Park Town Hall. Due to the limited availability of space at the town hall, the college had to lay off faculty and staff and cut enrollment to 200 students. During this period, Palm Beach Junior College was known as "the little orphan college." In 1955, the Palm Beach County Commission gave the college 114 acres in Lake Worth, and the state legislature passed a bill providing over $1,000,000 for construction at this site. The college moved to this location, which remains its main campus, in the fall of 1956.

[edit] A Period of Growth and Change

In 1958, Roosevelt Junior College was established under President Britton Sayles to serve African American students. Largely as a result of the Civil Rights Movement, Roosevelt merged into Palm Beach Junior College in 1965. In 1968, control over the college passed from the Palm Beach County school district to a board of trustees. In 1978, the college opened its Belle Glade campus. The Palm Beach Gardens campus opened in 1980. In 1983, the college opened a campus adjacent to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. In 1988, the college's board of trustees changed the college's name to "Palm Beach Community College".

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] References


Florida Community College System
Brevard Community College • Broward Community College • Central Florida Community College • Chipola College • Daytona Beach Community College • Edison College • Florida Community College at Jacksonville • Florida Keys Community College • Gulf Coast Community College • Hillsborough Community College • Indian River Community College • Lake City Community College • Lake-Sumter Community College • Manatee Community College • Miami Dade College • North Florida Community College • Okaloosa-Walton College • Palm Beach Community College • Pasco-Hernando Community College • Pensacola Junior College • Polk Community College • St. Johns River Community College • St. Petersburg College • Santa Fe Community College • Seminole Community College • South Florida Community College • Tallahassee Community College • Valencia Community College


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