Jones College was a private

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. Founded in 1918, the college was

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and had an undergraduate body of roughly 350 students. It offered courses in business, education, management, medical assistant training, computer science and general studies. The school was not regionally accredited, although it was nationally accredited by the

Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) is a non-profit education corporation that was recognized until 2021 by the United States Department of Education as an independent and autonomous national accrediting body. ...

(ACICS). On December 12, 2016,

John King Jr. John B. King Jr. (born January 5, 1975) is an American educator, civil servant, and former state and federal government official who is the 15th Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY). He previously served as President & CEO of Th ...

, the

United States Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on ...

, finalized the process of revoking the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

's recognition of ACICS as an accreditor. Subsequently, Jones College announced it would close on December 31, 2017. Its last classes were held in August 2017.

Campuses

The college's main campus was located in the Arlington neighborhood of Jacksonville at the foot of the

Mathews Bridge The Mathews Bridge is a cantilever bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, which spans the St. Johns River. Constructed in 1953, the bridge brings traffic along the Arlington Expressway between downtown Jacksonville and the Arlington neighborhood. It ...

. The school also offered

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

, and had a student to faculty ratio of 12:1 in on-campus classrooms.

History

Jones College, originally Jones Business College, held its first classes in a private home. It later became the first business college to have a student dormitory. The school had

national accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member ins ...

from the

(ACICS). It was certified to operate in Florida by the Commission for Independent Education (CIE) and approved by CIE to grant degrees at both the associate's level and the bachelor's level of academic study. By the end of its operation, Jones College offered degrees in business and information technology, as well as medical, legal and educational fields. Jones College students were to transfer to

Keiser University Keiser University is a private university with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and flagship residential campus in West Palm Beach, Florida. Additional branches are located in other parts of Florida and internationally. Keiser provide ...

to complete their coursework.

Radio

Jones College Radio was a non-commercial broadcast from the campus on station

WKTZ-FM WKTZ-FM is a Classic Hits formatted Broadcasting, broadcast radio station licensed to Loch Lynn Heights, Maryland, serving Oakland, Maryland, Oakland and Westernport, Maryland, Westernport in Maryland and Terra Alta, West Virginia, Terra Alta an ...

(90.9 MHz), which was live 24 hours a day. The programming content was

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

, branded as "Beautiful Music". The station began as an AM station in 1964 and then switched to FM in 1973. The station is played in many businesses and professional offices on the

First Coast Florida's First Coast, or simply the First Coast, is a region of the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida. The First Coast refers to the same general area as the directional region of Northeast Florida. It roughly ...

instead of commercial

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...

, and can be accessed via the station's online website. The college also owned a student run radio station, WFAM (91.1 FM) and an AM carrier radio station WJCR. WFAM had a classical music format in the morning (9-12 p.m.) Top 40 in the afternoon (12-6 p.m.) and jazz until sign off. The station was sold and the beautiful music format was replaced with Christian radio. Jones College Radio continues to operate online.

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Jones College Jones College Universities and colleges in Jacksonville, Florida Colleges accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools Arlington, Jacksonville Universities and colleges in the Jacksonville metropolitan area 1918 establishments in Florida 2017 disestablishments in Florida Defunct private universities and colleges in Florida