St. Philip's College | Top Schools In San Antonio, Texas

1801 Martin Luther King Drive San Antonio, TX  78203

St. Philip’s College is a San Antonio, Texas public community college. It is accredited by the Colleges and Schools Southern Association and part of the District of Alamo Colleges. In more than 70 different academic and technical disciplines, the college currently serves more than 11,000 students.

History

The bishop of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of the Diocese of West Texas, James Steptoe Johnston, founded St. Philip’s Normal and Industrial School to educate and train slaves who have recently been emancipated. The school started as a weekend sewing class for six black girls starting on March 1, 1898, taught by Miss Alice G. Cowan, a missionary with the Episcopal Church.

Artemisia Bowden, a former slave’s aunt, joined the school as a teacher and administrator in 1902. Miss Bowden spent 52 years at St. Philip’s School. Under her guidance, the school expanded to a high school and later to a junior college from a vocational school for girls.

The school, keeping the name of St. Philip’s Junior College, associated with San Antonio College and the Independent School District of San Antonio, marked the end of the college era as a private institution in 1942.

Campus

St. Philip’s College has two main campuses and seven branch offices. The main campus is located three miles from downtown on the eastside of San Antonio. The Southwest Campus, previously part of Kelly Air Force Base, is located on San Antonio’s southwest side and acts as a center for training programs. Courses are also offered at local military bases, hospitals, high schools, and the New Braunfels Central Texas Training Center.

Over the past 20 years, multi-million-dollar capital upgrades have added four major buildings to the main campus, including a state-of – the-art theater complex; the opening of the Northeast Learning Center in 1996; and the completion of the Education and Leadership Development Center in 1997 in partnership with the City of San Antonio. SPC grew into a new multi-purpose building, library, and welcome center in Spring 2009.

Academics

St. Philip’s College offers open admission. Admission requires completion of a student data form and submission of high school graduation transcript or GED certificate.

Liberal arts and technical courses

Major divisions include the fields of Arts and Sciences, Applied Science and Technology, and Education. Based on a particular area of study, students may receive an Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, or Associate of Applied Science degree.

Most departments offer one-year certificate programs that are tailored for intensive research of specific subject areas and quick entry into the labor market.

The Division of Applied Science and Technology offers courses in special high-demand career and technical areas such as Aircraft Technology, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Construction Trades, Electrical and Power Transmission, Multi-Modal Transportation, Manufacturing Engineering Technology, and many more.

Online Classes

St. Philip’s College offers 200+ Internet classes through its Center for Distance Learning. Classes range from Accounting, to Pathophysiology, to Web Design.