Amarillo College

The current Amarillo College was established in 1929 as Amarillo Junior College. Amarillo had failed in earlier efforts to get a state college and in 1929 was the largest city in Texas without a public college. Amarilloans, led by George Ordway and James O. Guleke, introduced a house bill that established junior college districts; Amarillo Junior College was the first college established under this act. Governor Daniel J. Moody signed the bill on April 2, 1929, and Amarillo began its campaign on April 3, 1929. The college started in September 1929 with B. E. Masters as president and was accredited rapidly, in April 1930 by the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities and in 1933 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Vocational courses were offered in the 1930s, when a specific demand developed, but the college had no continuing programs. In 1939, in line with Southern Association recommendations that the junior colleges begin to stress vocational courses, a flying school was established to train pilots under the authority of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, and in 1941 a National Defense Vocational Training School was started to supply personnel to defense industries during World War II. After the war all programs expanded steadily. A technical school was established in 1960 and a biomedical school in 1967.