60 years of innovation, growth and service
Santa Fe College is a story of community – people coming together to build an institution that opened educational opportunities to all and supported economic and innovation.
This year the College marks 60 years of providing essential liberal arts education, preparation for university, career and technical education, and a ticket to upward mobility for students in Alachua and Bradford counties - and beyond - in more ways with more success.
Celebrating 60 years
- Established: 1965
- First Classes: Fall 1966 (889 students)
- Regional Economic Impact: $413 million
Built by community.
Santa Fe Community College held its first classes in Fall 1966 at Buchholz Junior/Senior High School, with 889 students enrolled that year.
Later, on land donated by the Haufler Brothers in northwest Gainesville, the Northwest Campus took shape, followed by centers in downtown Gainesville, east Gainesville, Alachua, Davis, Keystone Heights, and Starke.
Today, with a $413 million impact on the regional economy, Santa Fe College finds itself strategically poised to have even greater reach into its community, finding innovative ways to meet students from all backgrounds where they are — academically or geographically — using novel methods to accelerate their success, and prepare them to satisfy Florida's high demand for a skilled workforce.
A beginning with 889 students.
A campus built to grow.
Momentum across campuses and centers.
As new programs are filling up and enrollment is increasing at all of its seven campuses and centers, Santa Fe College is broadening its education delivery by both growing its footprint with new facilities — like the state-of-the-art Ralph W. Cellon, Jr. Institute for Skilled Trades and Advanced Manufacturing and an Automotive Training and Technology Center — and through partnerships with Alachua County and Bradford County, who have provided existing space for students pursuing careers in Diesel Systems Technology and Nursing.
Winner of The Aspen Institute Award for Community College Excellence in 2015, Santa Fe College bolstered its reputation as one of the nation's most accomplished state colleges in 2025 with two more prestigious accolades. In April 2025, it was one of only two Florida public colleges to earn the designation "Opportunity Colleges and Universities" by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education for higher access and higher wages, with graduates earning 30 percent more than the regional average. And, in August, SF was the inaugural recipient of the 2025 "Impact and Success Award" for the Southern Region from the Association of Community Colleges Trustees (ACCT), only one of five institutions across the country to be recognized.
Santa Fe College boasts the No. 1 graduation rate for Florida College System schools, high rates of admission for transfers to four-year institutions, including more transfers to the state’s flagship institution, the University of Florida, than any other college, and top-percentile job placement among graduates in vocational/trades, Nursing and several disciplines in Allied Health.
Staying true to its commitment to being a student-centered institution that seeks to broaden access and opportunity for every sector of the community, SF has been proactive about creating initiatives and programs that meet the needs of potential student populations who want to reengage in the workplace after a significant life change, upskill to open doors to career advancement or even reimagine their productivity in older age or after a term of incarceration, thoughtfully crafting them in ways that serve to balance the needs of working parents.
Facilities that match ambition.
Rooted here, reaching further.
A celebration across the SF community.
Upward mobility in action.
Learning that serves.
Building what’s next.
Centers that connect.
Teaching that transforms.
A legacy in the making.
More about SF’s past — and what’s next.
If you’d like to go deeper, these pages provide additional context: a narrative history of the College, a decade-by-decade timeline of milestones, and the strategic plan guiding SF’s continued impact.