Lone Star College, providing quality education for 50 years

50 years ago, forward thinking citizens came together with the vision of creating a college for their community. People like John A. Winship, W.W. Thorne and Joe Airola laid the ground work for what was to become Lone Star College. Starting with 613 students in 1972 to welcoming more than 80,000 students today, the Lone Star College story of growth, focus on student success and looking toward the future is a testament to those who made this school into one of the elite community colleges in the nation.

The early 1970s was a booming time and that growth spurred the need to develop a community college and voters in Aldine, Spring and Humble agreed and the North Harris County Junior College District was born. Architectural plans for the new college, then known as North Harris County College were drawn and construction began on what became the flagship campus for Lone Star College.

Thanks to the early success of the college, five more independent school districts in New Caney, Tomball, Conroe, Splendora and Willis joined the college district, helping it reach even more students and leading to what would become LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Tomball and LSC-Montgomery.

This new multicampus system paved the way for the college to provide access to more students looking to further their education close to home. With these additions, the college system name was updated to North Harris Montgomery Community College District to better reflect the communities it served.

As Houston welcomed in the 21st century, residents welcomed LSC-CyFair in 2003 and the North Harris County College District, which began in 1972, was renamed and became the Lone Star College System in fall 2008. In 2009, LSC purchased the former world headquarters of Compaq Computer Corporation to create LSC-University Park which opened its doors in 2010 making it the second largest office space transaction of the year in the United States.

Now that the Lone Star College System was established, it was time to ensure students had access to programs that could elevate their education. Several student success initiatives were developed including the building of world-class workforce programs, the creation of The Honors College at LSC for high achieving students, launching LSC-Houston North to address an underserved area of Houston, the addition of bachelor’s degrees for students looking to advance their education and developing LSC-Online as the eighth college in the system.

Since 2012, 29 Lone Star College students have been awarded the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke transfer scholarship which helps to cover a substantial share of educational expenses including tuition, living expenses, books and required fees. In July 1994, LSC partnered with Aldine ISD to offer dual credit courses to high school students. 40 students took part in the inaugural class and today more than 20,000 students take advantage of getting an early start on college each year.

LSC continues to redefine the community college experience, helping students to make the college their first choice when it comes to higher education. The college recently opened its eighth campus, LSC-Online which is dedicated to supporting students who are taking classes fully online.

What started as an idea to bring higher education to an underserved community has now grown into an institution that has become one of the leading community colleges in the nation. Thanks to the remarkable foresight of community leaders, Lone Star College is a living testament of what can happen when communities join together and work toward providing a better way of life for all people.

Visit LoneStar.edu/50Years to learn more about the history of Lone Star College.