Hill College

Hill College is a comprehensive community college located in Hillsboro, Cleburne, Burleson, Glen Rose and Meridian, Texas. Hill College opened its doors in 1923, one year before North Central Texas College, which is the oldest continuously-operating community college in Texas because Hill College was closed during the 1950s. The authorization to establish Hill College was issued in 1921 by the Attorney General of the State of Texas under the name of Hillsboro Junior College. The college first enrolled students in September of 1923. At that time, there were only two public junior colleges in the state, and Hillsboro Junior College became the first municipal junior college to be chartered in Texas. Hillsboro Junior College operated continuously until July of 1950 when it closed after an attempt to establish a county-wide college system failed. The college lay dormant for eleven years during which time the charter was protected from forfeiture through the efforts of the late Senator Crawford Martin of Hillsboro. On March 3, 1962, through the efforts of the media, local civic groups, and many others, a bond issue was passed for the purpose of building a new campus. The college opened for business in September of 1962 under a new name, Hill Junior College. The new college district was expanded by the voluntary annexation of five Hill County school districts other than the original Hillsboro school district. The district now included Hillsboro, Abbott, Bynum, Covington, Itasca, and Whitney. In 1974, the college opened an extension center in Cleburne, Texas, located in Johnson County. The Johnson County Campus now includes six buildings on 32 acres of land and has more than 1,000 students enrolled in both day and night classes. In 1997 and 1998, the citizens of Alvarado, Cleburne, Godley, Grandview, Joshua, Keene, Rio Vista, and Venus approved a local maintenance and operation tax for the purpose of supporting the campus of Hill College in Johnson County. The college dropped junior from its name in 1985 and became Hill College.