South Plains College Opened with 76 More Students Than Expected

South Plains College expected 500 students when classes opened on September 15, 1958. It enrolled 576. That was 76 more students than planned, a strong start for a new school built from a local campaign.

The college took years to reach that day. The path from the 1951 petition to opening day ran through seven years and two petitions. County voters formed the Hockley County Junior College District on April 2, 1957. On March 22, 1958, voters added the part of Whiteface Independent School District that lies in Cochran County. That vote made the district cross a county line before classes opened.

SPC began with a strong focus on students who planned to transfer. In the early 1960s, it added job training, adult classes, counseling, and student support. Those changes widened the school beyond its transfer mission. The growth later moved beyond Levelland: SPC opened an extension at Reese Air Force Base in 1970 and a technical branch in Lubbock in 1973. Its Levelland ties also reach past the classroom. The college later gave land and money to help build Brashear Lake Park.