NH’s Milestone Anniversaries: 80th Anniversary – Manchester Community College and Great Bay Community College

When Manchester Community College (MCC) opened its doors in 1945 as the State Trade School at Manchester, its mission was clear: to give returning World War II veterans the skills they needed to find work. That same year, the State Trade School of Portsmouth—now Great Bay Community College (GBCC)—welcomed its first class of 130 veterans.

Eighty years later, both colleges remain rooted in that same mission of access, opportunity, and practical education, evolving from wartime trade schools into comprehensive institutions that serve thousands of students and shape NH’s economic future.

In Manchester, the State Trade School’s first home was a former shoe factory in the millyard. Programs included auto mechanics, welding, electrical work, HVAC, and sign painting. “If you look at those early years, almost all the students were veterans,” says MCC President Paul Beaudin, who joined the college in 2024. “Every one of those programs still exists except for sign painting. The mission hasn’t changed. We’re still about giving people skills that lead to careers.”

After outgrowing its early facilities, the school moved to Webster Street and then, in 1966, to its current 57-acre Front Street campus. Its name and scope changed over time, from the NH Vocational Technical College to Manchester Community College, as the college expanded from trades to academic transfer programs and workforce development.

Today, MCC serves about 3,500 students each semester, with 97% from NH and the rest representing 13 states and 37 countries. Its Workforce Development Center trains nearly 700 more students in short-term programs in health care, IT, manufacturing, and business. Another 2,100 high school students are enrolled through MCC’s Early College program.

In a poetic turn, MCC’s future is taking it back to its roots in the Millyard. Through a partnership with the Regen Valley Consortium, the college is developing advanced biotechnology programs in downtown Manchester. “It connects our past to the future of New Hampshire’s economy,” Beaudin says.