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St. Petersburg College

Former names	St. Petersburg Junior College (1927–2001)
Motto	Lux et veritas (Latin)
Motto in English	"Light and truth"
Type	Public college
Established	1927; 97 years ago (1927)
Parent institution	Florida College System
Accreditation	SACS
Endowment	$32.1 million (2024)
Budget	$168.6 million (2024)
President	Tonjua Williams
Academic staff	322 (full-time) 900 (part-time)
Undergraduates	23,501 (fall 2022)
Location	St. Petersburg, Florida, United States 27°46′43″N 82°43′58″W / 27.77861°N 82.73278°W / 27.77861; -82.73278
Campus	Large city
Colors	Blue, gold, and white
Nickname	Titans
Sporting affiliations	NJCAA Region 8 – Suncoast Conference
Mascot	Titus the Titan
Website	www.spcollege.edu

St. Petersburg College (SPC) is a public college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Part of the Florida College System, SPC offers several associate and baccalaureate degree programs. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

History

SPC was established in 1927 as St. Petersburg Junior College by Captain George M. Lynch, the city superintendent of schools for St. Petersburg. It was founded as a private, non-profit institution to provide affordable, local access to higher education during the economic downturn preceding the Great Depression. The college began with 102 students and 14 faculty members in a wing of St. Petersburg High School. After one semester, it moved to a former high school near Mirror Lake and later, in 1942, to its current location at the St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus. The institution became public in 1948.

In 1962, a second campus was established in Clearwater, following a study indicating a need for expanded educational facilities in northern Pinellas County. Over time, SPC expanded to eleven campuses and centers across Pinellas County.

In 1957, Gibbs Junior College, a segregated institution for Black students, was established and later incorporated into SPC in 1965, becoming the "Gibbs Campus."

Campuses

SPC operates eleven campuses and centers across Pinellas County, including four in St. Petersburg and others in Seminole, Pinellas Park, Largo, Clearwater, and Tarpon Springs. The college does not offer on-campus housing due to the decentralized nature of its campuses. Many campuses specialize in specific fields; for example, the Caruth Health Education Center in Pinellas Park focuses on health care programs, while the Seminole Campus is known for its technology programs.

The Seminole Campus also houses the University Partnership Center, which offers select degree programs through partnerships with 16 accredited institutions. These include universities such as Florida State University, the University of Florida, and the University of Central Florida. SPC offers 60 bachelor's degrees and 39 graduate degrees through these partnerships.

Reconstruction of the Gibbs and Clearwater campuses included LEED Gold Certified buildings, marking the first such certification for higher education facilities in Pinellas County.

Libraries

SPC has eight campus libraries, including joint-use libraries that serve both the college and the public. These libraries provide access to print and electronic resources, including books, academic journals, streaming media, and research databases. Students can also access digital reference services through AskALibrarian.

Athletics

The SPC athletic teams, known as the Titans, compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association and are members of the Suncoast Conference. The college offers men's teams in basketball and baseball, and women's teams in basketball, volleyball, tennis, and softball. The Titans softball team participated in the first Women's College World Series in 1969.

Notable alumni

Notable SPC alumni include U.S. Representative Gus Bilirakis; Henry Lyons, former president of the National Baptist Convention; Jim King, former president of the Florida Senate; Frank Wren, former general manager of the Atlanta Braves; Bob Carroll Jr., creator of I Love Lucy; astronaut Nicole P. Stott; and musician Jim Morrison, who attended SPC briefly.

Partnerships

SPC collaborates with the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training and the Florida Army National Guard to provide tuition-free training for criminal justice professionals. Additionally, SPC is partnered with the Combating Transnational Organized Crime Center of Excellence, offering training to support U.S. Department of Defense strategies.

Gallery

• SPC Clearwater Campus sign
• St. Petersburg College Downtown Center
• SPC Clearwater Campus ES (Ethics and Social Sciences) building
• SPC Clearwater Campus Library East Branch

References

1. Page, Rodney (September 9, 2001). "St. Petersburg College has Junior and Trojans removed from its name". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
2. Marra, Andrew (February 12, 2024). "Two Florida universities have more than $1 billion in endowments to invest on campus". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
3. "Annual Budget Summary - Fiscal Year 2024-25 (St. Petersburg College)". Florida Department of Education. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
4. ^ St. Petersburg College. National Center for Education Statistics (College Navigator). Retrieved September 8, 2024.
5. "History of St. Petersburg College" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
6. History of St. Petersburg College, p. 4.
7. An Informal History of the Clearwater Campus
8. Walter L. Smith, The Magnificent Twelve: Florida's Black Junior Colleges, Winter Park, Florida, FOUR-G Publishers, 1994, ISBN 1885066015, pp. 47-48.
9. University Partnership Center: Partnering Institutions Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
10. University Partnership Center: Degrees Archived 2008-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
11. St. Petersburg College Libraries and Services
12. Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
13. "SPC History". St. Petersburg College. Retrieved 21 June 2019.

External links

• Official website

v t e Florida College System
Activities Association
Broward College Chipola College College of Central Florida College of the Florida Keys Daytona State College Eastern Florida State College Florida SouthWestern State College Florida State College at Jacksonville Gulf Coast State College Hillsborough Community College Indian River State College Florida Gateway College Lake–Sumter State College Miami Dade College North Florida College Northwest Florida State College Palm Beach State College Pasco–Hernando State College Pensacola State College Polk State College Santa Fe College Seminole State College of Florida South Florida State College St. Johns River State College St. Petersburg College State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota Tallahassee State College Valencia College
Florida College System – Founded in 1933

• St. Petersburg College
• Universities and colleges established in 1927
• Florida College System
• Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• NJCAA athletics
• 1927 establishments in Florida
• Two-year colleges in the United States
• Universities and colleges in St. Petersburg, Florida