College Overview

San Antonio College was established as University Junior College in September 1925, under the auspices of the University of Texas. The following year, control of the College was transferred to the San Antonio Independent School District and the name was changed to San Antonio Junior College. Following passage of state legislation authorizing junior college districts, the San Antonio Union Junior College District was formed in 1945 and in 1946 assumed control of San Antonio College and its sister college, St. Philip’s Junior College. In 1948, San Antonio Junior College’s name was changed to San Antonio College, and in 1951, the College was moved to its  present location on San Pedro Avenue. Five hundred students were enrolled at that time. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granted accreditation to the college in 1955.

In the late 1960s, San Antonio College became a comprehensive community college by expanding offerings in occupational and technical courses and by assuming the San Antonio Independent School District’s Continuing Education Program. The name of the College District was changed to San Antonio Community College District in 1978 and in 1982 the District was renamed the Alamo Community College District.

In support of the mission of the Alamo Colleges, San Antonio College responds to Bexar County’s diverse community by providing high quality general education, liberal arts and sciences, career education, continuing education, and developmental education. The college has an average semester enrollment of 22,000 credit students and an average annual enrollment of 16,000 other-than-credit students. San Antonio College is the largest single-campus community college in Texas and one of the largest in the United States.

• Integrity
• Communication
• Community
• Academic Freedom
• Accountability
• Shared Governance

San Antonio College will be nationally recognized for student success and best practices.

San Antonio College will provide responsive education through excellence, accessibility, and diversity. San Antonio College is a public community college that provides and supports the educational and lifelong learning needs of a multicultural community. As a leader in education, San Antonio College is committed to excellence in helping students reach their full potential by developing their academic competencies, critical thinking skills, communication proficiency, civic responsibility, and global awareness.

San Antonio College fulfills its mission by offering the following:

• Transfer education designed to provide students with the first two years of the baccalaureate degree.
• General education courses in the liberal arts and sciences to support all college degree programs.
• Career preparation provided through a wide range of programs to prepare students for immediate employment.
• Developmental studies for students needing to bring their basic skills to a level appropriate for college work.
• Continuing education to offer a variety of training, licensure, and professional programs.
• Academic support services that include a comprehensive learning resource center and basic skills activities that complement instruction.
• Student support services to provide assessment, advising, counseling, tutoring, financial assistance, and social and cultural activities for all students, including those with special needs.
• Promotion of cross-cultural understanding and appreciation through instructional and social activities that contribute to cultural awareness and interaction.
• Involvement of business, industry, and professional groups in planning and revising educational programs to meet workforce needs.
• An environment conducive to learning through an attractive physical campus and wellness-oriented programs and services.
• Continuous assessment of programs and services and the utilization of results for improvement.
• And, operation of the college within available fiscal resources to provide accountability to taxpayers of the Alamo Colleges.

San Antonio College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award associate degrees.

The college is also an active member of the American Association of Community Colleges, the Community College Consortium, Association of Texas Colleges and Universities, the National League for Nursing, the Southern Association of Junior Colleges, the Texas Junior College Association, the Texas Public Community and Junior College Association, Texas Educational Theatre Association, and the Texas Association of Music Schools.

The Department of Nursing Education is accredited by the Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) for the state of Texas and the National League for Nursing (NLN, Accrediting Commission, 61 Broadway, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10006, phone: 212-363-5555, fax: 212-812-0391).

The Mortuary Science Department is accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE), 3432 Ashland Ave, Suite G, St. Joseph, MO 64506, phone: 816-233-3747, fax: 816-233-3793.

The Dental Assisting Program is accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation.

The San Antonio College Medical Assisting Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) — located at 1361 Park St.; Clearwater, Florida 33756; phone number: (727) 210-2350 — on recommendation of the American Association of Medical Assistants Endowment (AAMAE). Students who graduate from the Medical Assisting Program, with the exception of the medical office administrative assistant curriculum, qualify for the certification examination conducted by the AAMAE for the certified medical assistant credential.

Students who wish to view the school’s accreditation and licensing bodies documentation, may inquire at the Learning Resource Center Reserve Desk in the Moody Learning Center.

• College Council
• Adjunct Faculty Council
• Student Affairs Council
• Chairs Council
• Student Government
• Faculty Senate
• Staff Council

Cary Clack

“There are always folks who will tell you that you are not good enough because you don’t belong. Don’t allow anyone to put parameters on your dreams.” – Cary Clack

Cary Clack is San Antonio College’s Outstanding Former Student for 2010-2011. A longtime columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, he was a SAC student between 1978 and 1983.

A native San Antonian, Mr. Clack attended St. Gerard High School, graduating in 1978. His road to higher education was not a straight line – but rather one that had many twists and turns.   A football scholarship led him to Ranger Junior College in West Texas where he completed the three-a-day practices before deciding that Ranger was not the place for him.  On his return to San Antonio, he registered at SAC where he completed three semesters before transferring to the University of Houston (he continued at SAC taking summer courses).  

In the summer of 1984, he was a scholar-intern at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta where he wrote CNN commentaries for Coretta Scott King.

In 1985 Mr. Clack graduated from St. Mary’s University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Journalism as a career was still not on his radar.  Laughing, Clack said: “I was 33 before I had a fulltime job with benefits.” 

From 1989 to 1995, he was a trainer at the King Center workshops in nonviolence for high school and college students.

“One of the things I’m very passionate about is the theory of non-violence,” said Mr. Clack. “We can disagree without tearing each other down.” 

Returning to San Antonio, he served as a community organizer for San Antonio Fighting Back and volunteered with the San Antonio Youth Center. He wrote columns for San Antonio Snap and San Antonio Informer and in June 1994 began writing a bi-weekly column for the Express-News and became a full-time staffer one year later as a general assignment reporter and weekly columnist.

In 1998 Mr. Clack joined the Express-News editorial board and in 2000 became a Metro columnist. He won a Dallas Press Club Katie Award for Best General Column and the Friends of the San Antonio Public Library’s Arts and Letters Award for his writing. The readers of the SA Current have also named him favorite columnist during its “Best of San Antonio” awards. 

His Express-News column runs in S.A. Life on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  In 2009 his first book, “Clowns and Rats Scare Me” a compilation of 84 columns was published by Trinity University Press. 

Mr. Clack participates each year in the summer San Antonio College Urban Journalism Workshop for high school students and has been a guest speaker for both Black History and journalism events at the college.  Additionally, his speaking engagements have taken him to each of the Alamo Colleges, numerous high schools and other universities around the city.