Calhoun Community College
Calhoun Community College is a two-year public post-secondary education institution located in Decatur, Morgan County. It is the largest community college in the state system. The school enrolled approximately 8,400 students in 2025. School colors are royal blue, gray, and white, and the athletic mascot is the Warhawks, in acknowledgement of U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun, a vocal supporter of the War of 1812.
The college originated as the Decatur Trade School, located on the corner of 9th Street and 8th Avenue, in 1942 and moved to its current location on what was the former Pryor Field military training base in 1946. The school then focused on training World War II veterans for civilian careers. It was then renamed the Tennessee Valley State Technical School under the Wallace-Patterson Trade School Act of 1947. In 1963, the Alabama Trade School Authority Act established several more public educational institutions in the state, including John C. Calhoun State Technical Junior College. In September 1965, Tennessee Valley Technical School merged with John C. Calhoun State Junior College to become the John C. Calhoun State Technical Junior College and Technical School. It was renamed John C. Calhoun Community College in 1973 and now goes simply by Calhoun Community College.
In 1969, at the request of Wernher von Braun, Calhoun began offering classes for NASA and U.S. Army personnel at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Madison County. In 1996, the school expanded its presence in Huntsville by opening an official branch campus at Cummings Research Park. In 2006, the Huntsville campus established the Health Sciences Center, followed by the Math, Science, and CIS Building in 2016.
The main campus has also expanded in recent years. In 2000, the school established the Aerospace Training Center, and, in 2008, it embarked upon what would be the multiphase Alabama Center for the Arts, a collaborative partnership between Calhoun Community College and Athens State University that was approved by the Alabama State Board of Education in 2010. The first phase, completed in 2012, was the Visual Arts Building, a 44,000-square-foot facility in downtown Decatur that houses classroom and exhibit space for all forms of the visual arts. The Performing Arts Building opened in 2016 in the building next to the Visual Arts Building; it also is a 44,000-square-foot facility and houses classrooms, laboratories, a black-box theater, a recording studio, rehearsal rooms, a keyboard room, and offices for faculty and staff. In 2024, the center opened its Residence Hall, which features 49 apartments.
Calhoun Community College offers degrees in seven concentration areas: business and CIS, fine arts, general studies, health sciences, humanities and social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences, and technology, with options for associate of science degrees, which are intended for students who plan to transfer to a four-year college, and for associate of applied science degrees, which are intended for students who wish to enter the workforce immediately after earning their two-year degree. The Alabama Center for the Arts offers associate’s degrees through Calhoun and bachelor’s and master’s degrees through Athens State University. In addition to degree-oriented classes, Calhoun also offers career certifications in cyber and IT, industrial training, healthcare, construction and skilled trades, business and leadership, quality and safety, and transportation and logistics. Summer camps provide local K-12 students with opportunities in career-focused and sports fields, including the automotive academy, welding camp for girls, and healthcare camp as well as volleyball, basketball and band.
