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Community colleges are increasingly started as an extension of high school in the 1920s.
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The first Maricopa County Community College, Phoenix College (originally named Phoenix Junior College), was founded in 1920.
(Image from Phoenix College via the Arizona Memory Project. Shows Phoenix Junior College location at 7th and Fillmore in 1928) -
During the Great Depression in the 1930s, community colleges provided job training programs to help alleviate the unemployment, a trend that continued into the 1940s and 1950s.
(Image courtesy of Scottsdale Public Library/Scottsdale Historical Society. Image shows Wilmoth's store in Scottsdale during the 1930s.) -
1960s - Baby boomers reach college age and the number of community colleges and their enrollments increase exponentially.
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Mesa Community College started in 1963 as an extension of Phoenix College.
(Copyright held by Mesa Community College) -
1968 - Community college courses are offered at Scottsdale High School starting during the summer in the evenings as an extension of Mesa Community College.
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1970s - Community colleges become a larger part of the education system because of college age baby boomers, parents’ desire for their children to have post secondary education, and students seeking draft deferment from the Vietnam War.
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Scottsdale Community College opens for Fall 1970 on its current location within the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community.
(Image courtesy of the Scottsdale Public Library/Scottsdale Historical Society)
