Alabama Southern Community College

The former Alabama Southern Community College (Alabama Southern) is now part of Coastal Alabama Community College (CACC), a multi-campus higher education institution that is part of the statewide Alabama Community College System. Until its merger into CACC in 2017, it consisted of campuses in Monroeville, Monroe County; Thomasville, Clarke County; Gilbertown, Choctaw County; and Jackson, Clarke County. These campuses serve an approximately 5,000-square-mile area of southwest Alabama. Alabama Southern was created in 1991 by the merger of two existing colleges in Monroeville and Thomasville.

Patrick Henry State Junior College in Monroeville and Hobson State Technical College in Thomasville were both created through Act No. 93 of the Alabama Legislature in 1963. The first classes were held in December 1965 on both current campuses. Patrick Henry was accredited initially by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges in December 1970, and Hobson State was accredited initially by the SACS Commission on Occupational Education Institutions in December 1972. The State Board of Education consolidated these two institutions on August 22, 1991, to create Alabama Southern, which was accredited by SACS on June 19, 1992.

Patrick Henry Junior College's founding president was Bernie E. Lee (1965-1974), followed by Cecil Murphy (1974-1981) and James R. Allen (1981-1989). The first president after the consolidation of Alabama Southern was John A. Johnson (1989-2009). William O. Blow served as interim president until July 2010, when Reginald Sykes was appointed by Freida Hill, Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System.

The campuses' curricular offerings were created to align with the area's economic, geographic, and demographic considerations, such as the nationally recognized paper and chemical technology programs on its Thomasville campus. This campus hosts the National Center for Pulp and Paper Technology in partnership with the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Centers, which promote workforce development for the pulp and paper industry. Alabama Southern received a $2.94 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish this partnership in 2004 and received renewed funding in August 2009. Also located in Thomasville is the Thomasville Regional Day Reporting Center (formerly the LifeTech Institute), an innovative noncredit parolee transition program operated in partnership with the Office of the Governor, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, and CACC. The Center teaches life skills and technical skills to help ex-offenders make the transition from prison to society.

The Jackson Campus was established in 1975 and is uniquely located in the north wing of Jackson Middle School in Jackson. This campus is primarily an evening campus, with two classrooms and a computer lab with 24 terminals, all with Internet access. The Gilbertown Campus was established in 1977 and offers a wide range of day and evening classes. This fully equipped campus features a woodland walking trail, an outdoor amphitheater, and a community theater, all of which enrich the quality of life in the area. Construction was completed in fall 2004 on a new Gilbertown library facility, which is available for the public to use as well as students.

The Alabama Center for Literary Arts, located on the Monroeville campus, hosts the annual Alabama Writers Symposium, which awards the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Most Distinguished Writer of the Year. The campus is also home to women's basketball and softball and men's basketball and baseball teams. CACC athletic teams compete in the Alabama Community College Conference and the National Junior College Athletic Association. College colors are navy, gold, and white, and the athletic teams are called the Eagles.