Access and excellence are the hallmarks of St. Petersburg College, founded in 1927 as St. Petersburg Junior College, Florida's first two-year institution of higher education.
Initially a private facility, its first classes were in an unused section of the then-new St. Petersburg High School. After one semester, the College occupied a former public school building overlooking Mirror Lake downtown.
Today the College stands as a multi-campus, two-year/four-year public institution with 10 learning sites countywide. Services are administered throughout the nation and beyond. More than 63,000 students a year are served by SPC, including students in residence from many countries. Learning sites are in St. Petersburg (four), Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, Pinellas Park, Largo and Seminole.
The latter, which opened in August 1998, includes the C.W. Bill Young University Partnership Center (UPC), which opened in 1999 with a half-dozen Florida four-year institutions in collaboration. The UPC enables students to earn various baccalaureate and graduate degrees from partner institutions without leaving Pinellas County, and its partnerships total 16 and include three out-of-state institutions: Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University, both in Ohio, and Indiana University.
SPC's courses also are offered in various community facilities throughout the county via the Lifelong Learning program. Others — including entire programs — are transmitted to students by way of the Internet. Since early 2001, the College has offered more online programs than any other community college in the state, and more than most of Florida's universities.
In June 2001, legislation was signed by Gov. Jeb Bush enabling SPJC to become the first among Florida’s 28 public community colleges to transition to a four-year institution. The College dropped the “Junior” from its name, but not its commitment to its two-year mission, which remains as strong as ever.
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