St. Petersburg Junior College - St. Petersburg, Florida. 1946. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.
St. Petersburg Junior College: The First 40 Years By Tina Stewart Brakebill In May 1929, St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) celebrated its first graduating class. About half of the 48 soon-to-be alumni earned their two-year arts and sciences diplomas, and the other half graduated from the teachers training program. No doubt, the inaugural group of graduates imagined bright futures for themselves. So did the college. Its first commencement program proudly notes: “The college, in its short period of activity, has increased rapidly in size and importance, giving promise of becoming a still more worthy and flourishing institution in the future.”
Junior College: A New Idea for Florida On Sept. 13, 1927, the first class of 91 students launched their SPJC journey, despite the fact that they and the 14 faculty members teaching them were still waiting for textbooks and had to borrow rooms from the local high school. Enrollment soon grew to 102,
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but three months later, defenders were still having to explain the concept of a two-year school and sell it as an advantage, rather than a burden, to the community. In December 1927, the St. Petersburg Times extolled the cultural and economic boost SPJC provided both its students and the community at large, concluding: “Thus we believe the St. Petersburg Junior College has already justified the faith of the men and women who sponsored it.” Over the next 18 months, the school continued to prove itself worthy. By that 1929 commencement, graduates and staff had reason to be optimistic. SPJC had taken over the former St. Petersburg High School on Mirror Lake (presentday site of the judicial building), established its first scholarship endowment, doubled its enrollment, and was well on its way to full accreditation. The idea that St. Pete needed an institution of higher learning for aspiring white locals who couldn’t afford the tuition and boarding costs of an out-of-town school was clearly catching on.
The College Experience in Half the Time and a Fraction of the Cost At $50 per year, the new two-year SPJC was considerably less expensive than a four-year institution, which could average anywhere from $150 to $250 or more per year, plus the expense of books and room and board. For local students in particular, these savings made college possible. Since teaching required only a two-year certificate at the time, the teachers training graduates, almost exclusively women, were ready to meet the growing demand for teachers linked to the expanding population and compulsory school-attendance laws. The
