In September 1927, Florida's first two-year
institution of higher learning - St. Petersburg Junior College - opened in
an unused wing of the then-new St. Petersburg High School. Enrollment:
102, taught by a faculty of 14. Full accreditation followed in 1931. In
1948, the private college became public. In 1965, the African-American
Gibbs Junior College was merged with this ever-expanding institution. By
the 1990s, the college occupied a dozen sites throughout the county.
In June 2001, SPJC became St. Petersburg
College, a four-year institution. In August 2002, SPC began
offering fully accredited baccalaureate programs leading to bachelor's
degrees in Education, Nursing and Technology Management. However, the
college's commitment to its two-year curriculum, which has earned it wide
recognition and annually wins it high national ranking, remains as strong
as ever.
Additional baccalaureate programs – in Banking, Business
Technology Education, Dental Hygiene, International Business,
Orthotics and Prosthetics, Paralegal Studies, Public Safety
Administration, Technology Education and Veterinary
Technology – have been added since 2002.
SPC, which is accredited by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools and governed by its local Board of
Trustees, has four traditional campuses - in St. Petersburg, Clearwater,
Tarpon Springs and Seminole.
In addition, allied health courses are taught at the Caruth Health Education Center in Pinellas
Park, SPC’s Southeastern Public Safety Institute is at the Allstate Center in St. Petersburg, and Corporate Training is
at the EpiCenter in Largo. Classes convene at two other sites in St. Petersburg as well: the Downtown Center at
244 2nd Ave. N, and in the Midtown Center at 1048 22nd Ave. S.
The college's administrative offices moved in March 2005 - specifically to 13085 58th St. N, one long block
north of Ulmerton Road. There, in partnership with Pinellas County’s Economic Development division, it occupies
180,000 total square feet in a newly renovated building known as the EpiCenter. The EpiCenter includes a
facility for the bay area’s business/industrial community that will provide resources for professional
development, strategic planning and job training (including mastery of software), plus specialized seminars and
conferences. The EpiCenter’s new support services building, two doors away, was occupied in fall 2004.
As the college grew, especially the services provided through the EpiCenter, the college's administrative offices had to find a new home. In 2006 the college's administrative offices moved about a mile from the EpiCenter. The District Office, as it is known, is at 6021 142nd St. N.
Besides the baccalaureate programs
mentioned above, all of the following are available through SPC:
-
Associate in Arts (A.A.) degrees,
transferable to virtually any college or university worldwide.
-
Associate in Science (A.S.) degrees,
designed to prepare students dually--for workforce entry and for
transfer to some baccalaureate programs.
-
Applied Technology Diplomas in four
fields.
-
Certificates, with credit programs in
60-plus fields, which provide fast paths to professional credentials.
-
Bachelor’s and graduate degrees obtainable via SPC’s
University Partnership Center at the Seminole and Clearwater campuses. Through the UPC, degrees from 15 universities and colleges are made available to students without having to leave Pinellas County.
Established at SPC in 2004 was the Honors College, headquartered at the Clearwater Campus, and the St.
Petersburg Collegiate High School, located on the St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus. The latter is a charter school
for ambitious and motivated high school students (grades 10-12) aiming to receive a high school diploma
and an associate’s degree at the same time.
St. Petersburg College stands astride an 80-year tradition of excellence wrought by dedicated faculty and
visionary leadership. Affordable, accredited, comprehensive in its offerings,
responsive to community needs and committed to student success, SPC has
been a major player in Pinellas County's pursuit of progress.
Its alumni include a former astronaut, an astronaut in training, the first woman
aquanaut, war heroes, film stars, Major League Baseball players, judges, CEOs, a rock star, a Merrill Lynch senior
vice president, a Davis Cup captain and a co-founder of the Peace Corps. But SPC’s proudest legacy is the
difference it has made for hundreds of thousands of men and women who, through their studies, have acquired
what they needed to better their lives and thereby embellish their communities.
Opening enrollment in credit classes for Session I of 2007-08 was 8,525 full-time students and 17,640 part-time students
for a total of 26,165. Enrollment by lower division students was
23,985 and enrollment by upper division students was 2,180. Enrollment for all of 2006-07 numbered 36,133 in credit classes and 25,797 in non-credit for a total of 61,930.
