Palm Beach State College

In 2009, the college started its first baccalaureate program, a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Supervision & Management.

• Name — Palm Beach State College • Motto — Your Pathway To Success • Type — Public college • Parent — Florida College System • President — Ava L. Parker, J.D. • City — Lake Worth • State — Florida • Country — United States • Students — 24,223 (all undergraduate) • Administrative Staff — 1,099 • Campus — Urban • Sports Nickname — Panthers • Former Names — Palm Beach Junior College, Palm Beach Community College • Website — http: www.palmbeachstate.edu

• Illustration — Original Palm Beach Junior College building, located on campus of Dreyfoos School of the Arts Palm Beach State College was founded in 1933 as Palm Beach Junior College and was the first public junior college in the state of Florida. The Old Palm Beach Junior College Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The college's first classes were held at Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach. County school superintendent Joe Youngblood and Howell Watkins, principal of Palm Beach High School, who became the college's first dean, were instrumental in opening the college. The college's initial goal was to provide additional training to local high school graduates who were unable to find jobs during the Great Depression. In 1948, Palm Beach Junior College moved to Morrison Field, a deactivated Army Air Force base, which is now Palm Beach International Airport. In 1951, the college relocated to the Lake Park Town Hall. Due to the limited availability of space at the town hall, the college had to lay off faculty and staff and cut enrollment to 200 students. During this period, Palm Beach Junior College was known as "the little orphan college." In 1955, the Palm Beach County Commission gave the college 114 acre in Lake Worth, and the state legislature passed a bill providing over $1,000,000 for construction at this site. The college moved to this location, which remains its main campus, in the fall of 1956. In 1965, Palm Beach Junior College merged with Roosevelt Junior College, which was established in 1958 under President Britton Sayles to serve African American students. In 1968, control over the college passed from the Palm Beach County school district to a board of trustees. In 1978, the college opened its Belle Glade campus. The Palm Beach Gardens campus opened in 1982. In 1983, the college opened a campus adjacent to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. In 1988, the college's board of trustees changed the college's name to Palm Beach Community College. The District Board of Trustees approved a resolution in June 2009 stating that the college's name should change in light of offering baccalaureate degrees. On September 8, 2009, the Board approved changing the name to Palm Beach State College. The new name officially took effect on January 12, 2010.

Palm Beach State College's main campus is located in Palm Beach County, Florida. In addition to the Lake Worth campus, the largest (114 acre/51 building complex) and longest established campus (1956), the college also serves students at full-service locations in Belle Glade (1978), Palm Beach Gardens (1982), Boca Raton (1983) and Loxahatchee Groves (2017).

Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 25,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associate in arts and associate in science degree programs, and short-term certificates.

style="text-align:center; float:right; font-size:85%; margin-left:2em; margin:10px" Demographics of student body (Fall 2018) • Students — Florida — U.S. Census • African American — 26.5% — 16.9% — 13.4% • Asian American — 3.5% — 2.9% — 5.8% • White — 35.7% — 54.1% — 60.7% • Hispanic American — 29.2% — 25.6% — 18.1% • Native American — 0.5% — 0.5% — 1.3% The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Applied Science, Associate in Arts, Associate in Science and Associate in Applied Science degrees. The Palm Beach State College truck technology program was ranked as the best in the United States in 2015.

• Illustration — The Athletic Center The Palm Beach Panthers compete in the Southern Conference of the Florida State College Activities Association, a body of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8. In 2013, the Panthers baseball team were runners-up at the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series.

Among the most notable alumni of Palm Beach State College are actor Burt Reynolds; Jesper Parnevik, who currently plays on the PGA Tour; soap opera actress Deidre Hall; Yolanda Griffith, an Olympic Gold Medalist and Professional Basketball Player with the WNBA; and James L. Wattenbarger, who was the Architect of the Florida Community College system. • Illustration — Judge Reinhold • Illustration — Deidre Hall • Illustration — Jesper Parnevik • Illustration — Burt Reynolds • Ross Baumgarten, professional baseball player • Dante Bichette, professional baseball player • Wilson G. Bradshaw, President of Florida Gulf Coast University • Mark Brownson, professional baseball player • Crystl Bustos, Olympic gold medalist in softball • William Calley, convicted war criminal (did not graduate) • Tony Cruz, professional baseball player • Paul Dicken, professional baseball player • Tal Erel, Israel National Baseball Team player • Gar Finnvold, professional baseball player • Mark Foley, former U.S. Representative • Joe Grahe, professional baseball player • Ken Green, professional golfer • Yolanda Griffith, Olympic gold medalist and professional basketball player • Deidre Hall, television actress • David Manning, professional baseball player • Monte Markham, television and movie actor • Andy McGaffigan, professional baseball player • Bobby Muñoz, professional baseball player • Randy O'Neal, professional baseball player • Jesper Parnevik, professional golfer • Brad Peacock, professional baseball player • Judge Reinhold, television and movie actor • Sammis Reyes, Chilean basketball and American football player • Burt Reynolds, television and movie actor • Dusty Rhodes (baseball coach), college and Olympic baseball coach • Antoan Richardson, professional baseball player and coach • Lucia St. Clair Robson, historical novelist • Kevin Siegrist, professional player • Kim Swan, politician and leader of the opposition party in Bermuda • Robby Thompson, professional baseball player • James L. Wattenbarger, architect of the Florida Community College system • Charles Willeford, writer • Gareth Williams, television and movie actor • Jeff Wilpon, former Chief Operating Officer of the New York Mets