Blinn College

History

Blinn was established as Mission Institute in 1883 by the Southern German Conference of the Methodist denomination. It became coeducational in 1888 when it began admitting women. In 1889, the institute's name was changed to Blinn Memorial College in honor of the Reverend Christian Blinn of New York, who had donated a considerable sum of money to make the school possible. In 1927, the Board of Trustees, under leadership of President Philip Deschner, organized a junior college. In 1930, Blinn merged with Southwestern University of Georgetown, Texas. In 1934, a new charter was procured by the citizens of Brenham, and a private nonsectarian junior college was organized as Blinn College with nine regents as the board of control. In February 1937, all connections with Southwestern University and the Methodist denominations were severed.

On June 8, 1937, voters in Washington County levied a property tax for the creation of a public junior college district. Blinn thus became the first county-owned junior college district in Texas. The college continues to operate as one of the largest of some fifty public community college districts in Texas.

The Bryan campus was established in 1970, and by the early 1980s, a third campus opened in College Station. In 1997, the Villa Maria Road campus opened consolidating the programs that were located in the Townshire Shopping Center in Bryan and the Woodstone Center in College Station. The third Brazos County site, located in the former Bryan post office, continues to house the dental hygiene, radiologic technology, and workforce education programs. The original three buildings on the Bryan campuses were expanded to six, and in 2002, the former Schulman Theater was purchased and converted to classroom space, known as the College Park Campus (CPC). The Schulenburg campus opened in 1997 and Sealy in 2005.

Texas A&M University is constructing a Riverside Campus adjacent to Texas State Highways 47 and 21. It is known as the RELLIS Campus, meaning "Respect", "Excellence", "Leadership", "Loyalty", "Integrity", and "Selfless service". Blinn College will also maintain a presence at RELLIS to partner with other institutions and organizations. Blinn had planned to establish a new campus off Sandy Point Road and Farm to Market 2818. By joining the RELLIS campus instead, Blinn expects to save from $10 to $12 million. In addition to construction, Blinn officials project a $5.7 million cost for furnishings for the campus. The total projected cost to Blinn will exceed $34 million. Vaughn Construction will spearhead the project.

Blinn College offers academic transfer courses and these technical programs: Associate Degree and Vocational Nursing, Surgical Technology, EMS, Physical Therapy Assisting, Dental Hygiene, Radiologic Technology, Fire Science, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Development, Legal Assisting, Real Estate, Computer Information Technology, Information Management, and Business (General Business, Accounting, Business Administration and Management, Hospitality Management, Small Business Management). The college also offers noncredit, non-transferrable workforce education programs.

Academic transfer

Blinn boasts the highest transfer rate in the State of Texas, sending students to institutions such as Texas A&M University, Sam Houston State University, Texas State University, the University of Texas and the University of Houston. Its transfer rate to four-year universities is 49% compared to the state average of 27%. Blinn transfers more students to Texas A&M University than any other two-year college. Blinn technical students score among the best in the state on board and licensure exams.

Blinn and Texas A&M University established the first co-enrollment program of its kind with the TEAM (Transfer Enrollment at Texas A&M) Program, which allows students to enroll at both schools with part-time admission to Texas A&M and is offered only to qualifying students during the Texas A&M freshman admissions process. Participating students are enrolled in one academic course at Texas A&M each semester and complete the remainder of their courses at the Blinn–Bryan campus. Students who complete 45 Blinn credit hours and 15 Texas A&M credit hours within two years, with a 3.0 grade point average at each school, are automatically admitted to Texas A&M. TEAM students can apply for transfer admission sooner when they meet the eligibility requirements. Students enrolled in 15 semester credit hours in the TEAM program save as much as $1,500 compared to students enrolled in 15 credit hours at Texas A&M. In 2013, the program was awarded the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Recognition of Excellence, and in 2014 it received the THECB Star Award.

Affordability

In 2013, Blinn College was named one of the most affordable large community colleges in the nation by AffordableColleges.com. Out-of-district students who attended Blinn during the 2014-15 academic year saved an average of $3,891 (48.8%) compared to state residents at the average Texas public university, while Washington County residents saved an average of $5,299 (66.5%)

Blinn offers more than 220 endowed scholarships as well as scholarships for students studying science, technology, engineering and math; academic scholarships; fine arts scholarship's and exemplary scholarships for students taking at least 12 credit hours on the Brenham campus who graduated high school with a 3.0 grade-point average.

Community impact

A 2014 study found that Blinn made a $345.3 million impact in its service area, including $239.5 million in added income by former students employed in the regional workforce, $61.3 million in College operations spending and $44.5 million in student spending. The report found that Blinn has made an impact of $247.4 million in Bryan-College Station, $83 million in Brenham, $11.1 million in Schulenburg and $3.9 million in Sealy.

Blinn has also been recognized for its community service. In 2011, Blinn receviced the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Community Engagement Classification, and in 2012 it was the only community college in the state of Texas to be named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Each year, Blinn devotes a day to community service, called the Blinn Blitz, and hundreds of students participate in local community service projects.

Athletics

The home campus in Brenham has offered intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and has won 30 national championships since 1987. The Blinn Buccaneers play football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball. The football program won NJCAA championships in 1995, 1996, 2006, and 2009. The volleyball team won the NJCAA championship in 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014. The softball team consistently makes the national tournament. Blinn's award-winning cheer and dance teams won the UCA and UDA National Championships in 2014 and 2015.

Notable alumni