Central Lakes College history

Two years later 19 graduating students, the Class of 1940, celebrated the earning of college diplomas.

In 1957, the basement and first floor of Lincoln elementary school were utilized with laboratory facilities of the high school.

Years later, as part of the local school district, the College became part of the Minnesota State Junior College System in 1963 and was separated into Brainerd Junior College and Brainerd Technical Institute.

That board continued to oversee the college’s operation until 1964, when the Minnesota State Junior College System of 10 mission-sharing schools statewide formed.

The Staples campus with a newly designed building addition in 1985 remains the center for training in heavy equipment, machine tool technology, media and communications and a unique robotics and automated systems technology program.

In 1991 the State Technical College Board combined the administration of both schools creating Brainerd Staples Technical College.

BCC and BSTC combined to create CLC on July 1, 1995.

In Brainerd, a $24 million two-story addition opened in 1996 as part of the newly combined college: Central Lakes.

This building is on the cutting edge of educational technology with a central core offering several interactive television classroom. It first offered distance learning courses in 1998.

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