Miami-Dade College - Wolfson (Miami, Florida) | college of further education / higher education

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Miami Dade College was established in 1959 and opened in 1960 as Dade County Junior College. A facility was built on an old naval air station nearby Opa-Locka Airport, which would soon become the College's North Campus. The College enrolled black students, becoming Florida's first integrated junior college, and Cuban exiles who could not afford other schools. As the College grew, another campus was built in Kendall, and was named the South Campus. (It would later change its name again to the Kendall Campus.) The College was re-named Miami-Dade Junior College, and its two flagship campuses expanded and enrolled more students: in fact, it began enrolling more students than the University of Florida or Florida State University. After some time, college president Mitchell Wolfson Jr. envisioned a campus at the heart of Downtown Miami, and in 1973, the Wolfson Campus was built. The College changed its name to Miami-Dade Community College around the same time.

As the College kept enrolling students, some felt that its academic standards were too weak. Therefore, the College kept its open admissions policy while strengthening its academics. Around the same time, a Medical Center campus was built near Miami's Civic Center adjacent to the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital to train students in Allied Health and nursing (RN) programs. With the Mariel exile community arriving in 1980, the College created an outreach center in Hialeah to help incoming refugees gain an education. Another outreach center, the InterAmerican center, was built to accommodate bilingual education. Because students in Homestead found it difficult to attend classes at the Kendall Campus, the Homestead Campus was built in 1990.

During the mid-1990s, the College began undergoing significant changes. The College made use of new media and technologies under the direction of College President Eduardo Padrón. As the Florida legislature spent less on education, the College began to rely heavily on its foundation. The College also had to figure out new ways of recruiting students, and the College began its "Successful Alumni" campaign in the late 1990s, marketing to Miami-Dade County residents about the College's alumni.

Beginning in 2000, the College implemented its Strategic Plan to revamp the College and its recruiting goals. In 2002, the College disbanded its Honors Program and created The Honors College for talented high school graduates. The Honors College represents Miami Dade College's most academically gifted students.

In 2003, the College was granted the right to award baccalaureate degrees in education to meet future education needs. Thus, the College changed its name from Miami-Dade Community College to Miami Dade College. However, the College's mission to serve its community has not changed.

Miami Dade College operates eight campuses and various outreach centers dispersed within Miami-Dade County. The Honors College is currently located in three campuses, with another on the way: a new bilingual program at the recently-built West Campus). All campuses have different schools for various disciplines (Engineering, Business, etc.). Some campuses also operate dual-enrollment programs for high school students. Most campuses also have College Preparatory or English as a Second Language (ESL) courses that help students pass the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) that will allow them to take college-level Mathematics and English courses.

The Wolfson Campus has strong business and legal assisting programs (accredited by the American Bar Association). It also has partnerships with the University of Florida and the Miami-Dade County public school systems in operating the New World School of the Arts for talented high school and undergraduate students. The College President's office is based here, as well as The Honors College and the Miami Dade College Foundation.