JCC 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.

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. Further renovation of Whiting Hall is currently underway.

An integral educational and economic force in the Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale communities, JCC operates on general fund budget over $45 million. Each year, more than 9,000 students enroll at JCC. About 60 percent take classes on the Jackson campus; 18 percent at JCC @ LISD TECH, 7 percent at the LeTarte Center and 15 percent online. Unduplicated head count for Fall 2010 was 8,186. Among JCC’s total student population:

• 44 percent of students attend full-time,
• 61 percent of students are females,
• 40 percent of our students are under the age of 22, and
• minority enrollment is at 15 percent, the highest ever at JCC.

JCC has 95 full-time faculty, 175 full-time staff and administrators and 406 part-time personnel.