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 SCC opened its classrooms in January of 1964. Many
thought that the College would not be able to recruit
enough students in the middle of the academic year when
most colleges started their courses in the fall, but
they were wrong. From the first day, the College was
over-enrolled, with more than 850 students. Classes were
held at Shoreline High School in the evenings and on
weekends.
There was much work to be accomplished in the early
days of the College. Recruiting and hiring trained
faculty and staff, developing curriculum, and planning
new buildings were just some of the key work challenges
of the day.
 Thanks to the Boeing family, Shoreline Community
College acquired 80 acres of land on which to build
their first building. Old photos provide a glimpse of
the 'wilderness' in which the College broke ground for
its first building - the library. Soon after, the
administration building and the student union building
followed. Portable buildings were installed to
accommodate classes until capital funds could be
released for the construction of new buildings.
Today, 40 years after the first student enrolled at
Shoreline Community College , the mission of the school
remains much the same. Traditionally, less than 25% of
the national population receives a baccalaureate degree,
leaving 75% of our community with high school degrees or
no degree at all.
The College, along with all 34 community colleges in
the Washington state system, is focused on providing
education to the community at large. It is not
surprising that community colleges find themselves
"stretched to their limits." Every community college
continues to develop professional/technical training to
move students straight into the workforce, and
certificate programs (less than two years) that upgrade
existing skills or provide an initial foundation for a
specific career. Additionally, they develop adult basic
education programs to prepare students to enter college,
English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) for our ever-growing
immigrant population, high school completion programs,
and Continuing Education / Continuing Education for
personal enrichment and more. The initial goal of
providing two-year transfer education can not be
forgotten.
Shoreline Community College is grateful to the
community for its ongoing support and to the Washington
State Legislature for focusing on the needs of citizens
for higher education. Over time, the College will
continue to look for the means to educate its students
in a way that is effective and efficient and will look
to its 50th anniversary as the next major milestone.
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