Community colleges in the United States

¶ … History of Community Colleges in Florida

Community and Junior Colleges in the United States accommodated many students who would otherwise not be able to attend college. These students have various reasons for not attending Community Colleges. Two reasons that are at the forefront are financial constraints and inadequate high school academic grades. Community colleges offered students vocational education, adult education, associate degree programs and the first 2 years of a baccalaureate degree.

The first public junior college in United States was Joliet Junior College. There were other junior colleges, but these were private. St. Petersburg Junior College was the first junior college in Florida and it was private. Several other private junior colleges were formed, but St. Petersburg Junior College was the only effort that was successful. These private colleges paved the way for public junior colleges. The first public junior college was the Palm Beach Junior College in 1933. It was established by the legislature (Albertson, 2004) and was the only public junior college in Florida until St. Petersburg Junior college changed from private to public. The change from private to public was due to the Florida Minimum Foundation Program, enacted in 1947. This combined state and local support for community colleges (History, 2004). In 1947, Chipola Junior College changed from private to public and then Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola was established. Today, there are 28 community colleges in Florida.

Through the years, there have been significant changes in the community college system in Florida. In 1949, the Florida Association of Public Junior Colleges (FAPJC) was formed. This is now the Florida Association of Community Colleges (FACC). In 1955, the Florida Legislature established the Community College Council. A report from this council was published in 1957 and it recommended that community colleges be established within commuting distance of 99% of the population in Florida (History, 2004). This was the beginning of the expansion of the community college system. In addition to the onset of new community colleges, churches and community centers were utilized as educational facilities. Another change in the Florida Community College system was the desegregation of the community colleges. The report released in 1957, identified 13 of 31 areas in Florida that had sufficient black population to have a community college (Smith, 1998). Some of the counties that did not have the resources to develop a community college, several areas would get together to jointly provide education for the citizens. This system worked with combined resources from the counties and transportation coordination. Eventually, the additions of new community colleges were only integrated institutions.

Two more important events during the next few years was the legislative decisions to make district boards the governing body over community colleges and the abolishment of the Community College Council. The legislature then established the Community College Coordinating Board, which was later abolished in favor of the State Board of Community Colleges. Florida community colleges had become an important part of the post high-school education system. The FEPFA, the Florida Educational Facilities Planners' Association, Inc., was established in the 1960s to promote relationships and exchange of ideas between the Office of Education and FEPFA. The community colleges were asked to participate and attend meetings with this group and then become members (FEPFA History, 2004), signifying the importance of the community college. The name Junior College was dropped in favor of Community College by most colleges.

Florida's community colleges have gone a step further in serving the citizens of Florida. Some of the community colleges have initiated baccalaureate degrees, particularly in education, nursing and applied science. More community colleges in the state of Florida are requesting permission to do this. Additionally, the state of Florida was among the first in the country to have post-secondary education systems request and obtain permission from the Department of Education to assist with training for educators in re-certification and certification, assist with training for teachers and substitute teachers and to facilitate the way for persons who do not have a teaching degree, but hold baccalaureate degrees in other field, become certified to become teachers. This program is thorough and allows for field experience, is skill based and allows community colleges to prepare teachers for certification (Albertson, 2004).