[Greenville Technical College] is located in the city of Greenville, South Carolina in the southeastern region of the United States. Greenville Tech is one of sixteen technical colleges in the South Carolina Technical Education System, which was created in 1960. Greenville Tech was the first technical college built and is the third largest higher-level educational institution, behind the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. As of the Fall semester 2005, over 13,000 full-time students were enrolled at Greenville Tech, over 130 academic programs. Greenville Tech has been a major factor in the growth of business and industry in The Upstate of South Carolina --due to the fact that the college works closely with business and industry.
Greenville Tech continues to grow and currently has six satellite campus locations in Greenville County:
- Barton Campus, in Greenville, South Carolina
- Greer Campus, in Greer, South Carolina
- Brashier Campus, in Simpsonville, South Carolina
- North West Campus, at the old Berea Elementary School, in Berea, South Carolina
- Aircraft Maintenance and Truck Driver Training, at the Donaldson Industrial Air Park (formerly Donaldson Air Force Base)
- Continuing Education and Health Training, at the Buck Mickel Center
- Automotive Technology, at the McKinney Auto Center
- Admissions and Registration Center, at McAlister Square (formerly McAlister Square shopping center)
New facilities are currently under construction for the North West Campus, as well as student dormitories at the "Barton Campus" (main campus).
History:
Early in the year 1960, Governor Ernest F. Hollings felt that South Carolina could attract more business and industry if it had a well-trained work force. A state technical education system, consisting of thirteen technical centers (sixteen Technical Colleges, today), was formed to provide training. In September 1962, Greenville Technical Education Center began training students. In the beginning, the college consisted of one building, eight acres and 800 full-time and part-time students. The Technical, Industrial and the Extension Division were the first three major areas of study with twelve full-time staff, twenty part-time instructors and three full-time administrators. However, by November 1965, the college had grown to encompass an additional 122 acres of land, surrounding the original property. In April of 2000, the main campus was named after Dr. Thomas E. Barton Jr, who is the longest serving president of a two-year college in the United States.