| Northwest Florida State College | |
| Motto: | Educatio Optima |
| Faculty: | 300[1] |
| Undergrad: | 5,497[2] |
| President: | Devin Stephenson [3] |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Colors: | Red, white, black |
Northwest Florida State College is a public college in Niceville, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Northwest Florida State College has multiple campuses but has operated continuously on its Niceville campus since 1963. The college also operates a charter high school, the Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College, which opened in 2000.[4]
Northwest Florida State College was founded in 1963 as Okaloosa-Walton Junior College, with its campus in Valparaiso, Florida; students started class the next year. A permanent campus in Niceville was dedicated in April 1969.[5] The school voted to change its name to Okaloosa-Walton Community College in 1988,[6] and gained four-year status in 2003, thus changing its name to Okaloosa-Walton College.
In June 2008, Governor Charlie Crist signed a bill that allowed several community colleges, including OWC, to offer four-year degrees and be considered part of Florida's upper education under the newly formed Florida College Pilot Project,[7] making OWC one of the state colleges in Florida. Due to the change, school officials elected to once again change the name, this time to Northwest Florida State College.
As of the 2020-2021 year, Northwest Florida State College operates at six locations.[8]
The Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College (CHS) is a charter school in Niceville, Florida, established in 2000. From then until the fall semester of 2022, CHS enabled 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade students to simultaneously earn both a standard high school diploma and a transferable two-year college degree (Associate of Arts) or transferable college credits. The 2022–2023 school year introduced a freshman program that allows students to receive an Associate of Science degree. Only students who enroll as a freshman have access to the AS program, and, upon entering 10th-grade, they have the choice to continue in that program or transfer to the standard AA program.[9]
CHS is a public school and is free of charge to students. College-credit classes, college and high school textbooks, provision for transportation, use of a personal laptop computer, tutoring, and more are all provided at no cost. Students are allowed to participate in a wide range of college activities and extracurriculars including sports, the Raider Rhythms dance team, and the college's Student Government Association.[10] CHS was named the #1 school in Florida for the 2002–2003, 2009–2010, and 2010–2011 school years[11] and a U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School in both 2006 (receiving the award as "Okaloosa-Walton Collegiate High School") and 2013.[12]
The Mattie Kelly Arts Center is a performing arts and educational complex, with a 1,650-seat main stage theater, a 195-seat Sprint Theater, the Mattie Kelly Art Galleries, a music wing, a visual arts building and the NWFSC amphitheater.[13] The Mattie Kelly Art Galleries consist of the McIlroy Gallery, and Holzhauer Gallery.[14]
Northwest Florida State College has two library locations. The Niceville Campus Library is located inside the Susan Myers Learning Resources Center Library, and the Ft. Walton Beach Campus hosts the Emerald Coast Library.[15] [16] The Emerald Coast location services library resources for both the University of West Florida and Northwest Florida State College, as it is a joint campus.[17] [18] The Susan Myers Learning Resources Center hosts the Zoghby Learning Commons which houses library materials, tutoring, testing, academic support, study areas, and printing.[19]
The school's athletic teams compete in the Panhandle Conference of the Florida State College Activities Association, a body of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8.[20]
| Alumni | Notability | |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Duarte | Professional basketball player | |
| Kedrick Brown | Former professional basketball player | |
| Robert Coello | Former Major League Baseball pitcher | |
| Andres Feliz | Professional basketball player | |
| Jason Michaels | Former Major League Baseball outfielder | |
| Xavier Moon | Professional basketball player | |
| Alan Ritchson | Actor | |
| Ray Sansom | Former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives | |
| Donell Taylor | Former professional basketball player | |
| Branden Vincent | Former professional basketball player |
On April 11, 2009, a lone gunman shot a vending machine maintenance worker at the center in DeFuniak Springs. The victim was shot twice in the chest and died from his injuries.[21] The suspect, Thomas McCoy, a former co-worker of the victim, was apprehended and charged and found guilty of first degree murder.[22]
Between May 21, 2012, and September 24, 2012, a large-scale security breach occurred at the college. The personal information of nearly 300,000 people, including 200,000 who had no connection to the institution, was stolen. Leaked information included names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, gender, and ethnicity as well as payroll and direct deposit information. No one was ever charged in the attack.[23]
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