Bellevue College Timeline - 60 Years Transforming Lives

Bellevue College’s success today is a testament to the excitement and passion of the Eastside community’s desire to bring a community college to Bellevue in the early 1960s. The multi-year campaign to the Washington State Legislature to approve Bellevue as the next location for a community college was buoyed by the fact that hopeful students camped out overnight to enroll in classes. Students were hungry to learn then as they are today. Founded on January 3, 1966, Bellevue College has grown significantly from its early days in borrowed classrooms and portables at Newport High School. The college campus opened three years later in 1969 with 2,200 full-time students. Now 100 acres large and the third-highest enrolled college in Washington state with nearly 20,000 students, Bellevue College is consistently ranked the best college for salary potential, best in Washington state for a student’s 10-year return on investment among public college. As part of the college's 60th anniversary in 2026, take a trip down memory lane to see where Bellevue College started and just how far we've come since. Learn more about Bellevue College's history and 60th anniversary at bellevuecollege.edu/60thanniversary/