In its 80-plus year history, Palm Beach State College has seen a number of well-known faces. In 1941, James L. Wattenbarger earned an associate’s degree at the college and went on to help develop the Florida community college system in place today. Later, a number of actors passed through the facilities, such as rugged Western-star Burt Reynolds and “Days of Our Lives” Deidre Hall. Jesper Parnevik hailed from Sweden on a golf scholarship and has gone on to the PGA tour, while Yolanda Griffith left PBSC and went on to win two Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2004 and earn the title of one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the WNBA.

In Lake Worth, Florida, speckled with palm trees and white-sided, large-windowed buildings, sits PBSC’s main campus: Lake Worth. Next to Lake Osborne and John Prince Park, this 114-acre campus serves more than 30,000 students a year. The campus houses the honors college, the Panthers athletic facilities, the Watson B. Duncan III Theatre, and the Public Safety Training Center. Nearby, about 15,000 students learn at the Palm Beach Gardens 123-acre campus. They have access to the Myrna Rubenstein Pavilion at the center of campus with an ecological pond and waterfall, multimedia classrooms and laboratories, a horticultural nursery, community athletic fields, and an art gallery. Aside from Palm Beach Gardens and Lake Worth campus, students can learn at full-service locations around Palm Beach County in Belle Glade, Boca Raton, and Loxahatchee Groves.

Students who want to learn from the keyboards of their own laptops can take advantage of Palm Beach e-learning opportunities. Around 15,955 distance-learning students earn credits via discussion boards, online chat rooms, and web conferencing. All credit classes are transferrable and appear identical to in-class courses on transcripts. Adult learners should check out one of the four campuses in their area for classes to upgrade technical skills and to continue education in early childhood and teacher education, health sciences, and public safety. Continuing education courses take place over shorter periods of time and focus on specific workforce needs.

Palm Beach State College takes to the fields and courts as the Panthers. Decked out in green and gold, the Panthers compete in the NJCAA Division I in baseball, basketball, volleyball, and softball—while Palmer Florida Panther, their whiskered mascot, revs up the crowd and cheers the teams to victory. The school also has both men and women soccer clubs.

Palm Beach State College is Florida’s first public community college and offers more than 130 degree and certificate programs — associate and baccalaureate degrees, professional certificates, and workforce development — from biotechnology to massage therapy. About 48,000 students attend one of five campuses and enjoy small class sizes of about 25 students, low tuition, and a diverse student body stemming from more than 160 countries. More than 2,500 full- and part-time faculty and staff help prepare students for transfer to universities or for immediate employment upon program completion. The college and its faculty have maintained strong partnerships with the Palm Beach Country community. And many facilities have been renovated or added to provide students with the latest technology and media to prepare for the workforce.