South Texas Junior College (STJC) was a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

located in Houston, Texas (

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

). The

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

opened STJC in 1948 and operated the two-year coeducational liberal arts school; no tax money supported the school. The YMCA pioneered the concept of night school, providing educational opportunities for people with full-time employment. At first classes occurred in the old Downtown YMCA building at 1600 Louisiana. In 1949, the school had 144 students. The

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

, also under the YMCA umbrella, dominated most of the funding and attention of the college before the two groups decoupled in the mid-1960s. As part of this, classes moved to the

Merchants and Manufacturers Building The One Main Building, formerly the Merchants and Manufacturers Building (commonly referred to as the M&M Building), is a building on the campus of the University of Houston–Downtown. The building is recognized as part of the National Registe ...

at One Main Street in 1967, when STJC ended its affiliation with the YMCA. Two years later, under President W.I. Dykes, the college bought the Merchants and Manufacturers Building outright and took over most of the building for classes and administration. Enrollment dropped, however, throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, from an all-time high of nearly 5,000 students to 2,737 students and 120 faculty members by 1973. The YMCA and

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

buildings provided dormitories for students. At one time it was the largest private junior college in the United States, and in 1974, still ranked among the top ten. On August 6, 1974, the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

acquired the assets of South Texas Junior College and opened the University of Houston–Downtown College as a institution.

References

External links

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Confluence: History and Archives at the University of Houston-Downtown
University of Houston–Downtown Defunct private universities and colleges in Texas Universities and colleges founded by the YMCA {{Texas-university-stub