Join In On the Celebration
We are so thankful for our past and present employees, business partners, government officials, neighbors and anyone with a connection to SMCC. We want you to join in the celebration.
Here’s a few ways you can participate:
- Share your story to potentially be featured on our website and more!
- Send your photos and/or videos from the past to communications@smccME.edu.
- Share your story or a quick video “Happy Birthday SMCC” message to social media with #Allinalways #SMCC75 and/or #SMCCme.
- Join us for our 75th anniversary events throughout the year, including a celebratory gala. Stay tuned!
SMCC 75th Anniversary Celebration Videos:
Learn more about SMCC’s amazing 75 years and hear from students, faculty, alumni and business partners!
A Brief History of SMCC
SMCC opened as the Maine Vocational Technical Institute in 1946 with 80 students, 10 faculty and staff, and four programs: Automotive, Electrical, Machine, and Radio.
When it outgrew its space in Augusta and needed more space to accommodate its growing student population, MVTI moved in 1952 to SMCC’s current location, on the site of decommissioned Fort Preble overlooking beautiful Casco Bay in South Portland.
In the 1960s, MVTI changed its name to Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institution and began awarding its first Associate in Applied Science degrees.
Another name change came in the 1980s, when SMVTI became Southern Maine Technical College after the Maine Legislature changed the name of the state’s Vocational Technical Institute System to the Maine Technical College System.
The transformation continued in 2003 when the Maine Legislature established the Maine Community College System to provide affordable postsecondary education as a pathway to the workforce or to a baccalaureate institution. The College name was changed once more, to Southern Maine Community College.
SMCC experienced rapid growth after becoming a community college, with enrollment nearly tripling in a decade. In 2011, the College added a second campus, the Midcoast Campus in Brunswick, located on the site of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.
SMCC has come a long way from a small school in Augusta to Maine’s largest community college. We now serve about 6,000 students from around the state and around the globe, and offer more than 40 degree and certificate programs at our campuses in South Portland and Brunswick, online and at satellite locations throughout southern Maine.
See What SMCC Can Do for You
SMCC offers degree programs, certificates, certifications,
workforce training, classes for personal and
professional growth, and more! See what SMCC
can do for you, today!
Want to share your story? Contact us at communications@smccME.edu
