CTC: The First 50 Years

A story of the first 50 years of Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas.

From its beginning as a blueprint spread over a barren, rocky hill, to its development into a worldwide institution serving hundreds of thousands of students, Central Texas College has repeatedly exceeded even the grandest expectations.

This initial success set a precedent. From enrolling Vietnam veterans at the Killeen Campus, to opening sites across the United States, Europe, and the Far East, to teaching onboard Navy ships at sea and at Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, Central Texas College has repeatedly proven that it can provide a superb education, customized to its students’ needs, at any place with room for a chalkboard or power for a laptop.

In the mid-1960s, community advocates in Bell and Coryell Counties, along with leaders at

Fort Hood, worked together to bring a college to their region. The scope of their vision and depth of their cooperation became dramatically apparent in an opening enrollment ten times more than what experts predicted.

Originally a Killeen community college across from Fort Hood, Central Texas College grew to span the globe with programs for military personnel.

“Finding A Way—Central Texas College, The First 50 Years tells of the school’s creation, growth, and culture. An anecdotal, informal account based in part on oral history interviews of key participants, Finding a Way focuses on the people of CTC and their stories: the administrators who dreamed visions, the staff who implemented them, the professors who translated them, and the students who not only learned them, but in many cases stayed at the school to pass them on.