A spring morning at SPSCC's Olympia campus. Picture from thurstontalk.com, taken by anonymous user.
A spring morning at SPSCC’s Olympia campus. Picture from thurstontalk.com, taken by anonymous user.

South Puget Sound Community College, or SPSCC, is a community college located in Olympia, Lacey, and surrounding areas, and is one of the thirty-four community colleges in the state of Washington. The college currently offers ten different pathways, which can be completed in two years, with some also offering four-year degrees and work studies. The college primarily focuses on newer renovations and strives for student success, offering a place for people to succeed. It serves twelve different districts with high schools and is the only community college in the area up to Centralia. 

The history of the college dates back to the mid-1950s when it was originally used as a technical school, providing associate degrees in technical fields. It was designed to help adults learn technical skills, and the demand for such opportunities was high, which is why the college was established. In 1962, it officially became known as the Olympia Vocational Technical Institute. The demand for education continued to grow, and by 1958, 816 adults were taking classes. In September 1966, the school had 14 different fields of work, mainly focused on technical areas like stenography and cashier-checker retail. Since then, the college has expanded its offerings and now has ten different pathways that students can choose from. In 1970, the current campus was built near the intersection of Highway 101 and I-5, and it was named and dedicated as Olympia Technical Community College. In 1982, the first few hundred students graduated with associate degrees related to art, and by 1984, the college’s name was officially changed to South Puget Sound Community College to reflect its progressive attitude. The college continues to evolve and broaden its educational spectrum, welcoming students of all ages, from Running Start students to those over sixty years old who want to complete their education. In recent years, the college has undergone major improvements, including the construction of a building dedicated to helping students reach their full potential. SPSCC now strives to show diversity within its student body and helps educate those who attend the college.

If you’d like to learn more about SPSCC, there’s a webpage dedicated to that, but goes in a bit more depth within the SPSCC website. In 2006, there was also a book self-published, called “A history of 1957 to 2006 South Puget Sound Community College,” by Lois F. Fenske, available at the SPSCC library to students.

References:

Fenske, L. (2006). The Early Years of South Puget Sound Community: 1957- December 1970. In A history of 1957 to 2006 South Puget Sound Community College: A chronology of shifting power and Control. essay, The College. 

History. South Puget Sound Community College. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://spscc.edu/about/history