Navarro College

Navarro College

Navarro College sign off Texas State Highway 31
Former names	Navarro Junior College (1946–1974)
Type	Public College
Established	1946
Students	10,000+
Location	Corsicana, Texas, United States Coordinates: 32°04′34″N 96°29′55″W / 32.076132°N 96.498740°W / 32.076132; -96.498740
Campus	Corsicana, Fairfield, Mexia, Midlothian, Waxahachie
Athletics	NJCAA – Southwest
Mascot	Bulldogs
Website	http://www.navarrocollege.edu/

Navarro College is a two-year public institution consisting of a main campus located in Corsicana, with branches in Fairfield, Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie, Texas. The college currently features annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students.

The Corsicana campus has strong ties with Texas A&M University–Commerce, which has branches at the Navarro College campuses in Corsicana and Midlothian.

In spring 1946, a group of local citizens met to form a steering committee for the purpose of establishing a junior college in Navarro County. In a general election held July 16, 1946, voters approved the creation of Navarro Junior College and authorized a county tax to help finance the institution. In that same election, voters chose a seven-member board of trustees to govern the college. The first students began classes in September 1946. Most of the 238 members of that first student body were returning veterans from World War II taking advantage of assistance available under the newly enacted GI Bill of Rights. The first campus of Navarro College was the site of the Air Activities of Texas, a World War II primary flight school located six miles (10 km) south of Corsicana.

In 1951, the campus was moved to its present location, a 47-acre (19 ha) tract west of downtown Corsicana on Texas State Highway 31.

In 1974, the college broadened its philosophy and purpose to encompass the comprehensive community-based educational concept, adding occupational education programs and implementing new education concepts including individualized and self-paced instruction and the use of audio-tutorial instructional media. In keeping with the new educational role, the word "junior" was dropped from the institution's name, and the official name Navarro College was adopted by the Board of Trustees. In an attempt to address the growing needs of its service area, which consists of Navarro, Ellis, Freestone, Limestone, and Leon counties, the college began offering courses in various locations in those areas in the early 1970s and eventually established two permanent centers, Navarro College South at Mexia and the Ellis County Center at Waxahachie. Later, a third and fourth off-campus centers were added in Midlothian and Fairfield.