Delta College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

University Center, Michigan University Center is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community encompasses two separate areas using the 48710 ZIP Code, including Delta College (Michigan), Delta College in Bay County, Michigan, ...

History

Delta College's district had its beginning in 1955, consisting of

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...

, Midland, and

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

counties. In 1957, the voters of these counties approved the construction of the college, and it opened for classes in 1961. Delta College replaced Bay City Junior College, established in 1922, because the junior college could no longer support the growing enrollment. In 1967, the college opened two residence halls on the campus. Occupancy of the dorms peaked in 1980 at 178 students but by 1990, that number was down to eighty-five. The following year, one of the halls was closed, and the second followed closed in 1993.

Governance

Delta College's district consists of Saginaw, Midland and Bay counties. The board of trustees is made up of nine trustees, three from each county.

Downtown centers

Delta College has remote campuses in each of its three neighboring counties: Delta College Planetarium in downtown Bay City; Delta College Midland Center in downtown Midland; and Delta College Saginaw Center in downtown Saginaw. The former Ricker Center in Saginaw was closed following the opening of the Downtown location.

Athletics

Delta College offers six varsity sports competing in the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

, and is in the MCCAA's conference. The Pioneers compete in men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and women's basketball, baseball,

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, women's soccer and men's golf. Baseball and women's soccer were added as varsity sports during the 2011–2012 academic year. Delta has won three national championships: men's basketball in 1989, softball in 1999, and women's soccer in 2024.

Media

The college owns and operates

WDCQ-TV WDCQ-TV (channel 19), branded Delta College Public Media, is a PBS member television station licensed to Bad Axe, Michigan, United States, serving the Flint– Tri-Cities television market. The station is owned by Delta College in University ...

, the region's

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

station, and WUCX-FM, the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

affiliate, owned by

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

(CMU) and co-operated by Delta College and CMU. Collectively, these stations are known as Delta College Public Media and they serve an audience of 1.2 million people in mid-Michigan. The college's student-run newspaper is the Delta Collegiate and has been published since the college opened in 1961. The newspaper prints a new issue every two weeks during the fall and winter semesters. The Library Learning Information Center (LLIC) has an online archive of the first 50 years of the Delta Collegiate.

Notable Alumni

* Mike Hoadley, Michigan state legislator * Jake Kiszka, guitarist for the american rock band

Greta Van Fleet Greta Van Fleet is an American rock band formed in Frankenmuth, Michigan in 2012. The band consists of vocalist Josh Kiszka, guitarist Jake Kiszka, bassist/keyboardist Sam Kiszka, and drummer Danny Wagner. The Kiszkas are brothers, and Josh and ...

References

External links

* {{Coord, 43, 33, 32.3, N, 83, 59, 10.1, W, display=title Community colleges in Michigan Michigan Community College Athletic Association Education in Bay County, Michigan Universities and colleges established in 1961 Education in Saginaw County, Michigan Education in Midland County, Michigan 1961 establishments in Michigan Saginaw Intermediate School District NJCAA schools Two-year colleges in the United States