Bethany Jordan
Highline Community College is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Highline Community College opened in 1961. I am going to go over how all of this came about. Including everything that had to be accomplished before Highline Community College could be opened. I will also discuss the location and the number of students.
Highline Community College started in 1961 but the talk of a new college by citizens and nine legislatures started in 1952 when the population of King County was growing into large numbers (“Quick Review,” p. 6). The first classes at Highline were held in portables at Glacier High School, and the college finally moved to its permanent spot in Midway in 1964 (Background information p. 2). It originally was an extended high school program offering four college Level courses (“Highline College Began,” p. 2). During Highline first year there was about 1,230 students enrolling each quarter (“Background Information,” p.2). Highline currently has about 9,000 students. So as you can see that first year brought in a lot of students and Highline is still bringing in a lot of students. Which says a lot about the school. Highline has so much to offer including different types of classes and athletics that the enrollment is high.
In 1959 all of the King County school district members attended a meeting in which they discussed the need for junior colleges across the state (“Quick review,” p.6). It took a couple of years to get laws changed so the Highline School District could start building their 80-acre college. The law still stated that no junior colleges could be built in a county where an institution of higher learning was already present. With that in mind Senator Andy Hess successfully led a movement for a bill that would allow a junior college to be built in the same area if The Highline School District had permission from the State Board of Education (“Quick Review,” p. 6). In January 1961, the Highline School District sent a letter requesting the building of a junior college, and in July the state agreed. On September 18, HCC classes began in seven portables and some of the classrooms at Glacier High School (“Quick Review,” p.2). The first faculty included only three instructors, all of whom had doctoral degrees, before HCC even opened. The first three taught college Level classes in the evening. Then when Highline Community College opened officially in 1961 there were fifteen faculty members. In 1962 they had jumped to thirty-two staff members (“Highline Community College Began,” p. 2). There were 238 full-time faculty recorded in 1999-2000 (www.sbctc.ctc.edu-academic year reports). As you can see the number of staff has dramatically changed in the last forty years.
Highline Community College is located about sixteen miles south of Seattle, between Seattle and Tacoma. The campus has a terrific view of the Puget Sound. Highline does not have dorm rooms; it is what is called a “commuter” college (“Background Information,” p. 2). About 50 percent of the students lived within the college district and 25 percent lived in Seattle and the rest were from the King County suburban areas. There were fewer than 100 students from other states and nations in 1973 (“Background Information,” p. 2).
Highline Community College had a long, difficult start. But our community is lucky to have a junior college that is right in our community. It is close to Tacoma, Des Moines, Seattle and many other cities. Highline Community College gets many different students from all around the area. There are still many trees everywhere and it is just a really comfortable setting in which you feel better about being there. Highline Community College has been around for forty years now and we all hope that there are many more years to come.
Works Cited
Community College District 9. Background Information. February 6, 1973.
“Highline History: A Quick Review.” Thunderword. May 19, 1972, Page 6.
Gordon, Shirley. Highline: 1962, 1972, 1982.” Thunderword. May 19, 1972, Page 5.
“Highline College Began Four Years Ago with 15 Instructors.” Thunderword. January 27, 1965, Page 2.
State Board for Community and Technical Colleges website. <www.sbctc.ctc.edu>.