History

John W. Gates of New York City, one of the founders of Texaco, established Port Arthur Business College in 1909, to train people for the petrochemical industry, then in its infancy. The College became Port Arthur Collegiate Institute in 1911, when the school was presented to the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, a forerunner of the present United Methodist Temple.

The church operated the growing campus until 1918, when it was turned over to a non-profit Texas corporation, which had no capital stock and was overseen by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. The name of the school was changed back to Port Arthur Business College and finally, in 1932, to Port Arthur College.

Another milestone in the school’s history was reached July 31, 1974, when W. Sam Monroe, President of Port Arthur College and a Lamar University regent, presented a resolution to merge the College into Lamar University. The 21 trustees agreed that a merger would be in the best interests of both institutions and their constituencies.

The 64th Texas Legislature authorized the merger and appropriated $600,000 for creation of the Lamar University Center at Port Arthur. On Aug. 21, 1975, the trustees presented the deed for Port Arthur College to the Lamar University Board of Regents. Classes began on the Port Arthur campus on Aug. 28, 1975.

In the years following the merger, enrollment increased from 151 students to a peak of more than 3,000 and the curriculum expanded to more than 50 areas of study.

In 1977, the 65th Legislature approved House Bill 1134 renaming the school Lamar University-Port Arthur and dropping the “Extension Center” designation.

In 1983, the 68th Legislature passed three bills that directly affected the College:

Senate Bill 409 deleted the restrictive language of HB 130 (passed in 1971 by the 63rd Legislature), making Lamar University-Port Arthur eligible, on an equal basis with other state institutions, for state funds to be used to buy land and/or buildings.
Senate Bill 410 provided Lamar University regents with the authority to levy a fixed student fee and the authority to bond against said fee for construction of a Student Center on the Port Arthur campus. This legislation was validated by a majority vote of the Lamar University-Port Arthur student body in November 1983.
Senate Bill 620 created the Lamar University System. Lamar University-Port Arthur thus became a component institution of that system on Aug. 29, 1983.

In 1985, two bills affected the school:

Senate Bill 578 in 1985 provided that Lamar University-Port Arthur be a beneficiary institution and receive money from the Higher Education Assistance Fund.
The General Appropriations Act of 1985 directed that a formula be developed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to provide operational funding to Lamar University-Port Arthur on the same basis as other state-supported institutions of higher education.

Senate Bill 78 in 1989 removed restrictions imposed by earlier legislation on the acquisition of real estate and the construction of facilities on campus.

Senate Bill 843 in 1991 clarified the degree-granting authority by allowing Lamar University-Port Arthur to issue associate degrees in its own name.

On Sept. 1, 1995, the Texas Legislature dissolved the Lamar University System, and Lamar University-Port Arthur and its three sister institutions, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar University, and Lamar State College-Orange joined The Texas State University System, which is headquartered in Austin and also includes Sam Houston State University, Texas State University and Sul Ross State University.

House Bill 1997, signed June 1999, changed the name of the school to Lamar State College-Port Arthur.