Labette Community College

On April 4, 1923, Parsons voters approved a two-year Junior College by a 4 to 1 margin. Labette Community College was founded as Parsons Junior College that year on the top floor of the old high school building at 26th and Main. The 1925 graduating class had 23 members. Their course of study was conducted entirely at the old high school. The College program moved to the new Parsons Senior High-Junior College building (now Parsons Middle School) in 1926. The College relocated to its present campus in the former East Junior High School building at 14th and Broadway in 1963.

In June of 1965, voters approved the creation of the Labette Junior College District. The Parsons Board of Education operated the College on an interim basis. Still, it became a separate entity when the Labette Community Junior College Board of Trustees was elected in the spring of 1966. In 1978, the College was renamed Labette Community College.

The College has evolved from a city college primarily serving those students who wished to transfer to a four-year institution to a comprehensive community college offering transfer degrees, professional/technical degrees and certificates, continuing education, customized training for business and industry, lifelong learning opportunities, and a variety of programs and services for Southeast Kansas and the four-state region.