The North Carolina General Assembly founded Vance-Granville Community College as Vance County Technical Institute in 1969. In receiving its charter, VCTI became the 30th college approved as a member of the state system, which today boasts 58 institutions.

After offering classes in various community locations, VCTI officially moved into renovated quarters of the former Maria Parham Hospital building near downtown Henderson in January 1970 and began offering extension classes. By the fall of that year, eight vocational and technical courses were added to the curriculum.

During the ensuing year, VCTI experienced a phenomenal growth in enrollment, and the need for larger, more permanent facilities became increasingly evident. The Board of Trustees requested the Vance County Board of Commissioners to hold a $2 million bond referendum for that purpose. Granville County representatives expressed interest in supporting a united effort between the counties to construct and maintain the new campus. A joint bond issue passed in 1972, and the name of the institution was changed to Vance-Granville Technical Institute.

Located midway between Henderson and Oxford alongside Interstate 85, the new campus consisting of four buildings opened in August 1976, just six weeks after the Legislature granted community college status, and its name was changed to Vance-Granville Community College.

The College experienced such rapid growth that a fifth building was added in 1978, and the College service area was expanded to include Franklin County and a major portion of Warren County.

In 1981, the General Assembly funded a special appropriation for much-needed equipment for training purposes. That same year, seven new programs were added to the general curricula, resulting in record-breaking enrollments and the eventual opening of South Campus, a satellite facility in southern Granville County.

The next year, VGCC reactivated its Endowment Fund Corporation to seek contributions from the community for its scholarship program and other support for the college. The fund at that time held approximately $15,000 in assets, but now has increased in value to more than $5.5 million. Over 5,000 students have received scholarships through the Endowment Fund in recognition of their academic achievement.

In 1984, the College reached another plateau in its physical growth plan when it received $1.1 million in construction funds from the General Assembly. These funds supported a new Student Admissions/Skills Training Center, built in 1985 on the main campus; a new South Campus complex in Granville County; and an annex campus in Warren County. Both satellites were completed in 1988.

With the opening of new entrance and exit ramps off Interstate 85 in 1988, improved access to the Main Campus resulted in bringing the College closer to its students as well as enhancing its visibility.
VGCC met still another long-range goal in 1989 with the construction of a $2 million Small Business/Civic Center on the Main Campus.

Significant growth in the ´80s underscored VGCC´s ongoing efforts in the ´90s to serve area citizens with new and improved educational opportunities that included the opening of a new satellite facility in Franklin County in 1991.

The year 1993 brought more good news for the College´s growth plans, as North Carolina voters passed a $200 million, Community College Bond Referendum. VGCC´s share of the monies, $4.2 million was earmarked for a variety of construction and renovation projects. Part of the funds supported the construction of a new classroom/day care building, completed in the summer of 1996 on Main Campus. Other funds helped with construction, renovation and expansion needs at the satellite campuses.

In 2000, growth plans received a significant boost as North Carolina voters passed a Higher Education Facilities bond referendum, from which VGCC received $17.1 million over a six-year period for new construction and renovations. The first money from these funds was used for the construction of a new three-story Technology, Occupational Extension and Basic Skills Building, completed on VGCC´s main campus in September 2003. The largest of all the College´s facilities, the structure houses technology systems and labs for a number of programs, as well as classes for Continuing Education, Public Safety, Small Business Center, Occupational Extension and Literacy. The Student Services Building has also been expanded to provide better service to our students and to provide space for a lab for the Bioprocess Technology program, which began in Fall Semester 2005.

This expansion of Vance-Granville´s total physical plant and equipment has helped accommodate the continuing rise in its student enrollment. The College serves more than 4,100 students per semester in curriculum programs. During 2005-2006, the College served more than 17,000 curriculum and extension students — or one of every seven eligible adults in the service area.

Consistent with the structural and enrollment growth of the College has been its increase in curriculum program offerings. Since 1997 several new areas of study — focusing mainly on technology and health-related subjects — have been added to its curricula. After a recent statewide survey, VGCC was assigned responsibility for all of Warren County by the North Carolina Board of Community Colleges in 2001.
The Main Campus of Vance-Granville Community College is located midway between Oxford and Henderson on an 83-acre tract of land off Interstate 85. The Main Campus consists of nine buildings including a Civic Center, valued in total at $33 million.

The College also offers classes at three other campuses in the four-county service area: South Campus, between Butner and Creedmoor in southern Granville County; Warren County Campus, in downtown Warrenton; and Franklin County Campus, west of Louisburg.

Since their formal dedication in the fall of 1988, both South Campus and Warren Campus have been renovated, enlarged and improved to accommodate a growing number of students. Franklin Campus, which first opened its doors to students in 1991, shared space in a local government building before moving in 1998 to its permanent new home outside Louisburg. The College added two new structures to its Franklin annex in 2001: a Biotechnology Lab and classroom building, and a multipurpose facility, giving the campus four buildings.

In January 2005, a 15,000-square-foot classroom building opened at the Warren County Campus, and a year later a 17,000-square-foot, two-story building was completed and began housing classes at the Franklin County Campus. Construction also began in late 2005 for a 20,000-square-foot, two-story addition at South Campus, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.

In December 2006, the College completed a 20,000 square foot, two-story addition to South Campus. The combined fair value of the three satellite campuses at present is approximately $16.6 million, but is expected to increase dramatically by 2007 when new expansions and improvements to their physical plants are completed.