History of Yavapai College

In December of 1965, the first public meetings were held to discuss the possibility of creating a junior college in Yavapai County. There are some indications that local citizens wanted to prepare area youth for the advantages offered by Prescott College, an elite four-year institution that was scheduled to open in 1966. However, more generally speaking, Yavapai College was conceived of as being the place where the young people of Yavapai County could prepare to transfer to any college or university. It was also a place where they could develop the skills necessary for creating a better life for themselves and for the communities throughout the County.

Two people seem to have highlighted the first planning meetings, held late in 1965. The first was the enthusiastic president of the Prescott PTA, Opal (Mrs. Merle) Allen; the second was Dr. Taylor Hicks, a member of the Board of Regents of Junior Colleges in Arizona. It was Mrs. Allen's hope that the PTA could educate the local citizens regarding the need for a junior college. Dr. Hicks provided the knowledge of the nascent junior college movement in Arizona.

Early in 1966 organizers formed a steering committee, and by November the voters approved the formation of a Junior College District in Yavapai County. One year after the movement was initiated, the Yavapai County District Junior College Board was formed and the present Prescott site was chosen. Future growth plans indicated that a campus would be built in Cottonwood, and 120 acres were donated by Gulf States Land and Industries for this purpose. Eventually, local enthusiasm coupled with state approval, built enough strength to warrant a bond election, which was held in May of 1967. The bond passed.

After the architectural firm of Bennie M. Gonzales and Associates of Phoenix was chosen, the Prescott land, adjacent to Fort Whipple, was leased from the BLM, and the first official class was held in the fall of 1968. By the following fall (1969), the college was operating in borrowed space, educating 593 students. In October the first dormitory was completed, and the Prescott campus was officially dedicated the following fall.

The Prescott campus remains the largest in the college, followed by the campus in Cottonwood. However, since its conception, the college has offered classes throughout the county-from Bagdad to Seligman. This countywide service continues; in addition, permanent "community" campuses are located in Sedona, Chino Valley and Prescott Valley, and there are plans to extend this service to other areas of the county. Physical campuses are now supplemented with "distance delivery" aided by television and computers. The latest bond election, held in the fall of 2000, has provided $69,000,000 to renovate and expand the college's facilities.

Today the college has approximately 1100 full and part time employees including a full time faculty of 95 and approximately 340 adjuncts. It serves 11, 645 students a year. These students represent all age groups and come to the college and with a wide variety of educational needs and expectations.