Mitchell Community College is a public

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior s ...

with its main campus in

Statesville, North Carolina Statesville is a city in and the county seat of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and it is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. The population was r ...

and a second campus in

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a large town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 United States Census making i ...

. Mitchell provides classes all year round on both campuses with many degree choices.

History

The school that would later become Mitchell College opened in 1856 as Concord Female College, a women's college sponsored by the Presbyterian church in North Carolina. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, during a brief period of private ownership, the name of the school was changed to Simonton Female College. In the 1870s, the school grew under the leadership of Eliza Mitchell Grant and Margaret Eliot Mitchell, daughters of the scientist and educator

Elisha Mitchell Elisha Mitchell (August 19, 1793 – June 27, 1857) was an American educator, geologist and Presbyterian minister. His geological studies led to the identification of North Carolina's Mount Mitchell as the highest peak east of the Mississippi Rive ...

. In 1917, the name of the school was changed to Mitchell College in their honor. In 1932, the school became coeducational, admitting its first male students. In 1973, Mitchell College joined the

North Carolina Community College System The North Carolina Community College System (System Office) is a statewide network of 58 public community colleges. The system enrolls over 500,000 students annually. It also provides the North Carolina Learning Object Repository as a central lo ...

and the name was changed to Mitchell Community College. The Main Building, Mitchell College and Mitchell College Historic District are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. In the 2008–2009 school year, Mitchell became the first community college in the United States to be accepted into

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

's University Student Launch Initiative competition and placed 8th out of 28 teams. In 2009–2010, Mitchell was again accepted to the competition and the team was able to finish 4th overall.

Notable alumni

* Dale Earnhardt Jr.,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

driver who earned his associate degree in automotive technology at Mitchell Community College. * Virginia Dare Aderholdt, cryptanalyst Liza Mundy. Code Girls. Hachette Books; 2nd prt. edition (October 10, 2017) pp 326-329.

References

External links

Official website
Educational institutions in the United States with year of establishment missing North Carolina Community College System colleges Education in Iredell County, North Carolina Buildings and structures in Iredell County, North Carolina 1917 establishments in North Carolina Two-year colleges in the United States {{NorthCarolina-university-stub