Mary Beth Blasingame
History of Community
Colleges
in
Mississippi
 1908 – Mississippi Legislature passed laws
allowing counties to establish agricultural
high schools.
 1921 – 51 agriculture high schools in
Mississippi
 Early 1920’s - the agriculture model of high
schools provide unsustainable forcing two
schools to close and others to close their
dormitories
 1921 – Pearl River Agricultural High School
1922 – Mississippi’s Senate passed a bill allowing
agricultural high schools to add two years of college
work.
 Schools had to be atleast 20 miles from University
of Mississippi, Mississippi Agricultural and
Mechanical School (now Mississippi State
University), Mississippi State College For Women
at Columbus, and Mississippi Normal College
(now University of Southern Mississippi)
 Qualifications for teachers were detailed
 Entrance exams were required
 Library standards were set
 1922 - Hinds County Agricultural High School began
offering freshman courses along with Pearl River










1925 – Hinds offered second year college courses
1926 – Pearl River offered sophomore classes
1928 – Forming of Commission of Junior Colleges,
giving a small appropriation of money to these
colleges
1929 – 13 junior college districts were formed
1929 – 1,248 students were enrolled in junior
colleges
1934 – enrollment totaled 3, 185
1949 – Coahoma Junior College was established for
African – American students
1954 – Utica Junior College also established for
African – American students
1987 – all of the junior colleges with the exception of
History made in the
U.S.
With the forming of the
Commission, creating school
districts and providing state
funds Mississippi created the
first state system of junior
colleges in the United States.
Influential People
Robert E. Lee Sutherland – Hinds County
Agricultural High School
 James A. Huff – Pearl River County Agricultural
High School

 These men thought of the idea to merge agricultural
high schools with junior colleges.
 Sighting that “This would keep enrollments up and
also enable rural students to take college courses that
they would otherwise not have access to” (Fatherree,
2010).
• Julius Christian Zeller of Yazoo County introduced the
bill to the senate that allowed for agricultural high schools

Knox Broom – supervisor of agricultural high
schools and junior colleges
 Pushed to limit number of junior colleges
 Helped establish a state committee to coordinate
activities at the junior colleges.
Mission of Community
Colleges
 When
the community colleges began
in Mississippi their mission was “to
provide a quality, accessible education
for the state’s communities at an
affordable price” (Fatherree, 2010).
 This mission is still that of community
and junior colleges in Mississippi
Colleges in Mississippi
 15
public community colleges
institutions
All but one began as an agricultural
high school
 All accredited by Commission on
Colleges of the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools
 8 public four year universities
 12 private colleges and universities

Public 4 Year
Alcorn State University
Universities
Delta State University
Jackson State University
Mississippi State University
Mississippi University for Women
Mississippi Valley State University
University of Mississippi
University of Southern Mississippi
Private 4 Year
Universities
Belhaven College
Blue Mountain College
Bryson University
Mississippi College
Reformed Theological Seminary
Southeastern Baptist College
Virginia College, Biloxi
Virginia College, Jackson
William Carey University
Public 2 Year Schools
Pearl River Community College Poplarville, Ms.
st
 1909 state’s 1 agricultural high school
st
 1 school to offer college courses
 1924 first public two year college in Mississippi
 Enrollment Fall 2011: 4,986
 18 certificate of proficiency programs
 26 Career Technical degree programs
 Copiah – Lincoln Community College Wesson,
Ms.

1915 founded as Copiah-Lincoln Agricultural
High School
 1928 the school began teaching college courses
 Enrollment Spring 2012: 2,381
 49 degree programs

 Hinds
Community College Raymond,
Ms.





1917 began as agricultural high school
1927 granted diplomas to its first graduating
class
Largest community college in the state
Approximately 32,000 students this year
170 + technical, academic and career
programs
 Holmes
Community College
Goodman, Ms.

1911 began as an agricultural high school
 Mississippi Delta Community College
Moorhead, Ms.
 Began as Sunflower Junior College in 1926



Fully accredited in 1928
50 + programs of study technical, career and
academic
Enrollment: Fall 2011 3,283
 Northwest Mississippi
College Senatobia, Ms.


Community
Tate County Agricultural High School became
Northwest Mississippi Junior College in 1928
83 programs of study
 Northeast
Mississippi Community
College Booneville, Ms.



Founded in 1948
Enrollment: Spring 2013 3,097
93 academic, career, and technical programs
 East
Mississippi Community College
Scooba, Ms.
st
 1 began as Kemper County Agricultural High
School in 1912
 1927 changed to a junior college
 Offers 25 career and technical programs
 Enrollment: Approximately 1,000
 Coahoma
Community College Clarksdale,
Ms.
st
 1924 Coahoma County was the 1 county in
Mississippi to provide an agricultural high
school for African-Americans.
 1949 school introduced college courses and
changed name to Coahoma Community
College
 1950 became the first educational institution
for African-Americans to be included in
Mississippi's system of public junior colleges
 1965 allowed for students of other races to
attend
 Enrollment: Fall 2011 3,000
Itawamba Community College Fulton, Ms.
 In 1948 formed as an extension of Itawamba
Agricultural High School
 76 programs of study offered in technical, career,
and academic
 Enrollment: Fall 2009 7,596
 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Perkinston, Ms.
 Originally began as Harrison County Agricultural
High School and in 1925 began offering junior
college courses
 1962 adopted the name Mississippi Gulf Coast
Junior College

 Jones
County Junior College Ellisville,
Ms.
 1927 Jones County Agricultural High School
became Jones Junior College
 Total of 96 career, technical, and academic
programs of study
 Enrollment Fall 2012: 4,589
 Southwest
Mississippi Community
College Summit, Ms.


1918 started as Pike County Agricultural High
School
1929 began introducing college courses and
 Meridian





Community College Meridian, Ms.
The school began as the 13th and 14th grades at
Meridian High School in 1937
Meridian Junior College operated out of the high
school until 1964
1970 merged with T.J. Harris Junior College
Offers 50 programs ranging from associates
degrees to certificates
Enrollment Fall 2012: 4,019
 East
Central Community College Decatur,
Ms.


Formed in 1928
Enrollment Fall 2011: 2,394
Students Enrolled in
Mississippi’s
Community Colleges
Full time: 60,032
Part-time: 22,376
Total: 82,408
Females:
50,567
Males:
31,832
American Indian/Alaska
Native: 584
Asian/Pacific Islander: 466
Black, non-Hispanic:
29,514
Hispanic: 609
Non-resident Alien: 590
compared to
Mississippi Community
College Rate
50
40
30
National Avg
MSCJC
20
10
0
2007
2006
2005
2004
Graduation Graduation Graduation Graduation
Rate
Rate
Rate
Rate
2011 Faculty Numbers
Faculty
Coahoma
223
Copiah-Lincoln
125
East Central
209
East Mississippi
535
Hinds
1181
Holmes
374
Itawamba
890
Jones
342
Meridian
334
MS Delta
227
MS Gulf Coast
794
Northeast
282
Northwest
478
Pearl River
518
Southwest Miss.
151
Student Teacher Ratios
Student
to
Faculty
Coahoma
28:1
Copiah-Lincoln
14:1
East Central
25:1
East Mississippi
20:1
Hinds
20:1
Holmes
25:1
Itawamba
31:1
Jones
21:1
Meridian
18:1
MS Delta
20:1
MS Gulf Coast
21:1
Northeast
23:1
Northwest
19:1
Pearl River
16:1
Southwest Miss.
24:1
Average Faculty Salary
2010
2011
Coahoma
41,599
42,273
Copiah-Lincoln
47,216
48,830
East Central
47,919
52,621
East Mississippi
50,107
50,229
Hinds
46,096
46,159
Holmes
53,442
53,443
Itawamba
56,417
58,228
Jones
52,240
52,366
Meridian
41,801
41,737
MS Delta
47,961
49,958
MS Gulf Coast
42,302
42,642
Northeast
51,503
52,021
Northwest
50,695
50,491
Pearl River
56,224
56,687
Southwest Miss.
53,124
53,129
Collective Bargaining
“Mississippi is among those states — many
in the South — where most government
employees do not have the right to collective
bargaining” (Pettus & Scelzig, 2011)
 “Mississippi Alliance of State Employees,
which has no bargaining power but provides
a voice for state government workers to air
their concerns before the governor and
Legislature” (Pettus & Scelzig, 2011).

Governance and
Administration
 Mississippi Commission of College
Accreditation – has the authority to approve all
institutions or other entities that provide one or more
postsecondary academic degrees that are domicile,
incorporate and located in Mississippi.

Mississippi Department of Education requires
colleges and universities to maintain
accreditation by Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools (SACS), Commission on
Colleges and to actively pursue accreditation in
all possible programs
Academic Productivity
Review Board
Responsible for:
 Ensuring effective use of State resources
 Reduce unnecessary academic program
duplication
 Eliminate unproductive programs
Governing Bodies
 Schools
are required to submit
organizational charts to the Board
of Trustees with the Mississippi
Department of Education and
Office of Academic and Student
Affairs
 Charts must detail non-academic
positions and academic positions
Mississippi Community
College Board
 Office
of Career and Technical Education
responsible for





Assisting in evaluation of programs with deans and
other personnel
Reimbursement process for state upgraded
equipment
Salaries for career and technical personnel
Reviews requests for new programs, deletion and
modification of existing programs
Liaison between Community and Junior College
Deans, Mississippi Department of Education and
Finance
A report performed by the State Board of
Trustees compared state appropriations of general
funds in public 4 year universities and 2 year
community colleges and the Institutions of
Higher Learning System (IHL)
 2012 Fiscal Year community colleges received
4.34%, 4 year universities 44.77% and IHL
received 12.65% totaling 61.77% of the general
funds being spent on education
 2013 Fiscal Year
 Community Colleges 4.15%, 4 year

universities 42.70% and IHL 11.03%
State Awarded
Financial
Aid
Undergraduate Grants
Award Amount
2-Year Public 7,767 $3,750,142
4-Year Public 15,193 16,117,836
4-Year
2,368 2,475,283
Private
0
$Out of State
25,382 22,163,261
Total
Student
Loans
Awar
d
Amount
0
$915 $4,535,605
220
1,048,174
2-Year Public
4-Year Public
4-Year Private
Out-of-State or
Loan Servicer
211
Total
1,346
604,879
6,188,658
11%
16%
73%
2-Year
Public
4-Year
Public
2-Year
Public
10%
17%
73%
4-Year
Public
Financial Aid
 Mississippi




Community College Foundation
Provides support for the Mississippi Community
College Board, junior and community colleges
Provided and still provides opportunities through
funding for faculty members to upgrade degrees
Extensive research on workforce needs to better
inform and train students at community colleges
Provides funding for local initiative at community
colleges to support Entrepreneurial Alliance. This
alliance enables businesses to rely on community
colleges for resources.
Community
Colleges
In State
Tuition
Out of State
In
State
Out of
State
Coahoma
950
2,400
Alcorn State
2,856
7,032
CopiahLincoln
975
1,875
Delta State
3,006
4,200
East Central
895
1,945
Jackson State
2,994
7,338
East
Mississippi
1,025
2,050
Miss. State
6,264
15,828
Hinds
980
2,280
Ms University for
Women
2,658
7,242
Holmes
925
2,215
Miss. Valley
2,814
7,038
Itawamba
950
1,825
Univ. of Miss.
6,600
17,568
Jones
County
1,074
2,074
Univ. of Southern
Miss.
3,168
7,224
Meridian
1,000
1,690
Mississippi
Delta
1,165
1,964
Miss. Gulf
Coast
1,150
2,073
Universities
Community and Junior College
Revenue by Source Fiscal Year
2011Revenue
Amount
Percentage
Source
General Fund
$168,422,707
30.5%
Education
Enhancement
30,272,370
5.5
ARRA SFSF
Gov’t Services
20,041,550
3.6
Indirect State
45,637,080
8.3
Federal
35,633,995
6.4
Student Fees
196,864,615
35.6
District Taxes
50,808,246
9.2
Other Revenue
4,853,888
0.9
Total Revenue
$552,534,451
100.0%
Community and Junior College Source of
Expenditures by Program FY 2011
Expenditures by
Program
Amount
Percentage
Academic Instruction
$163,570,862
29.6%
Career-Technical
Instruction
84,559,441
15.3
Other Instruction
63,135,924
11.4
Total Instruction
311,266,227
56.3
Instructional Support
19,855,800
3.6
Student Services
62,566,462
11.3
Institutional Support
81,098,497
14.7
Physical Plant
77,747.465
14.1
Total E & G
Expenditures
552,534,451
100%
Vocational Programs
 There
are 130 + vocational and
technical programs in the state of
Mississippi
 All 15 community colleges are
workforce centers providing credit
and noncredit education to people
seeking skilled jobs.
Vocational Education
Office of Career and Technical Education and
Workforce Development is a division of
Mississippi Department of Education
 It’s duty is to help train a qualified workforce to
ensure students are ready for competitive jobs.
 Partner with local business leaders and legislature
to attain common goals
 2010-2011 MCCB Annual Report noted 21,467
students were enrolled in Career and Technical
Programs at community and junior colleges in
2010 and 21,97 in fall of 2009.

Career and Technical
Education
Office of Career Readiness – Miss. Community
College Board
Implemented the Exemplary Teaching Program

Evaluates the quality of teaching and learning in
vocational programs
Provide Mississippi Career Readiness Certificate


This certificate was implemented in Mississippi to help
people seeking careers improve skills necessary for the
workforce.
Verifies cognitive skills
Development
Education
General Education Development (GED)




Available for adults that did not complete high school
Testing is administered by the Mississippi Community
College Board
“For FY 2011, 14,753 GED test booklets were scored
and 12,217 transcripts were issued. Approximately
13,483 individuals completed the entire GED best
battery with 7,882 receiving a GED
credential/diploma. For the fall 2010 semester, there
were 9,219 students who were admitted in community
and junior colleges via a GED diploma” (2010-2011
Annual Report,15).
3,858 people earned their GED and 627 continued on
to postsecondary education or training
Adult Education
Services or instruction below the postsecondary level
for individuals who:
1. 16 years of age or older
2. Are not enrolled or required to be enrolled in
secondary school
under State law
3. Lack sufficient mastery of basic educational
skills to enable the individuals to function
effectively in society
4. Do not have a secondary school diploma or its
recognized
equivalent
5. have not achieved an equivalent level of
education; or
are unable to speak, read, or
write the English language
Adult Education
28 basic education programs offered in FY
2011





All 15 community and junior colleges offer
classes
9 programs are in public schools,
1 program in a community based-organization
1 in a university
2 in correctional institutions
1,923 people participated in adult education
classes
Community Education
 Mississippi’s
junior and community
colleges all come from community’s
involvement in the desire to further
knowledge of agriculture to better
the regions in which the people
lived.
 Mississippi community colleges
have partnerships with one another,
local and large scale business to
Hinds Community
College
 Small
Business Development
Center and International Trade
Center



Supported by Hinds Community
College
Help small business in surrounding
counties prosper
Partnership with U.S. Small
MS Gulf Coast
 Community



Campus
Affordable and flexible training
programs
Enhance workforce, job growth,
job retention rate in the four
surrounding counties Gulfport.
Enable South Mississippi to grow
through industry partnerships
Collegiate Education
 Graduation



Rate Task Force examines
Articulation and Transfer
Graduation and Retention Rates
Student and Mental Health Services
 Two
studies conducted by GRTF in order
to better analyze where Mississippi needs
to improve in retention, graduating and
student services
GRTF’s Findings





Mississippi is behind the nation and many countries
in education attainment
In order for Miss. to reach the national average the
state must produce an additional 147,144 associate
and bachelor’s degrees by 2025 or 962 additional
degree each year
Mississippi ranks 45th in the U.S. in percentage of
high school graduates
Ranks 49th among the states in the percentage of the
population ages 25-64 with a bachelor’s degree or
higher.
Ranks 29th in getting students through to atleast an
More findings…


“Only 12% of African Americans have a bachelor’s
degree or higher compared to 24% of Whites. If all
minority groups had the same educational
attainment as Whites, the annual personal income
in Mississippi would be $7 billion higher”
(Graduation Rate Task Force Executive Summary,
p. 33).
“Mississippi Community and Junior Colleges
(CJCs) award more associate degrees per 1,000
adults age 18-44 with no college degree than the
national average, but awards substantially fewer
postsecondary certificates and diplomas than the
national average. This reflects the historic emphasis
of CJCs on college transfer associate degrees as
opposed to short term workforce
Student Graduation rates by
campus
Public two year colleges
Northwest Mississippi Community…
Northeast Mississippi Community…
Mississippi Delta Community…
East Mississippi Community College
Coahoma Community College
Itawamba Communtiy College
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community…
Jones County Junior College
Southwest Mississippi Community…
Hinds Community College
Meridian Community College
Holmes Community College
East Central Community College
Pearl River Community College
Copiah-Lincoln Community…
0
10
20
30
40
50
Student Graduation Rates at 4
Year Public Universities in
Mississippi
Mississippi State
University of Miss.
Jackson State University
Delta State University
University of Southern Miss.
Mississippi Universiy for Women
Alcorn State University
Mississippi Valley State University
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
In the Fall of 2012 4,916
students that previously
attended a community college
in Mississippi transferred to
one of the eight public 4 year
institutions.
ASU
DSU
JSU
MSU
MUW
MVSU
UM
USM
TOTAL
Coahoma
3
73
21
5
7
31
18
6
164
Copiah-Lincoln
60
6
45
46
7
0
9
90
263
East Central
3
7
30
113
12
0
11
26
202
East Mississippi
2
7
8
187
115
0
15
14
348
Hinds
39
25
204
105
58
1
31
79
542
Holmes
7
25
83
126
29
6
73
22
371
Itawamba
2
17
13
159
72
0
250
20
533
Jones County
0
1
6
94
5
0
22
273
401
Meridian
0
1
11
90
34
0
15
43
194
Ms. Delta
5
68
6
15
21
54
15
7
191
Ms. Gulf Coast
2
3
0
102
15
0
32
492
646
Northeast Miss.
0
6
1
87
24
1
109
4
232
Northwest Ms.
2
36
7
75
30
3
299
22
474
Pearl River
0
0
7
15
3
0
4
223
252
Southwest Ms.
8
0
8
16
6
1
6
58
103
133
275
450
1,235
1,235
438
97
1,379
4,916
Total
References





Complete College America. (2011). Mississippi 2011. Retrieved
From:
http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Mississippi.pdf
Fatherree,, B.H. (2010, March). The Community and Junior
College System in Mississippi: A Brief History of its Origin
and Development. Mississippi History Now. Retrieved From:
http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us
Graduation Rate Task Force. (2009). Graduation Rate Task Force
Executive Summary.
Retrieved From:
http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/graduation/downloads/grtf_report_100
120.pdf
Mississippi Community College Board. (2012). 2010-2011 Annual
Report. Retrieved From:
http://www.sbcjc.cc.ms.us/pdfs/pb/FY2011AnnualReport.pdf
Mississippi Community College Board. (2010). 9-10 month
equivalent full-time faculty
salaries fiscal years 2006-2011
estimated. Community and Junior College Financial
Data.
Retrieved From: http://www.sbcjc.cc.ms.us/pdfs/fn/avgsalfy0611.pdf
References

Pettus, E. W., & Scelzig, E. (2011). Union
bargaining a dream for many state
workers. U.S. Business on NBC News.com.
Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com