JC was founded as Jackson Junior College in 1928 and operated as a division of the Jackson Union School District, sharing lab and library facilities with the high school.

In 1962, Jackson County voters created Jackson Community College as a distinct entity; and in 1964, they passed a charter millage that still helps to fund the College today. Rapid enrollment and program growth in the 1960s spurred JCC to build a new campus on its present site. In 2013, the College changed its name to Jackson College.

Today, the College owns more than 500 acres and sits on a scenic rural site six miles south of the city of Jackson, and also operates JCC @ LISD TECH in Adrian and the Clyde E. LeTarte Center Hillsdale.

In recent years the College has renovated McDivitt Hall, renovated the Victor Cuiss Fieldhouse, added a state-of-the-art Information Technology and Library building (William Atkinson Hall), built two 96-bed campus housing complexes (Campus View 1& 2), renovated the core of Whiting Hall and renamed it the Rawal Center for Health Professions, and expanded student life with the return of athletics.

An integral educational and economic force in the Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale communities, JC operates on a $40 million general fund budget. Each year, more than 9,000 students enroll at JC. About 63 percent take classes on the Jackson campus; 16 percent at JC @ LISD TECH, 6 percent at the LeTarte Center and 14 percent online. Unduplicated head count for Fall 2008 was 6,690, up 5 percent from Fall 2007. Among JC’s total student population:

• 47 percent of students attend full-time,

• 62 percent of students are females,

• 47 percent of our students are under the age of 22, and

• minority enrollment is at nearly 10 percent, the highest ever at JC.