Lee College was established in 1934, and when registration was completed for that first semester, 177 students had enrolled in the inaugural session of Lee Junior College of Goose Creek, Texas. The Board of Trustees of the Goose Creek Independent School District had agreed as early as 1931 that a junior college should be established to provide educational opportunity to students who could not otherwise afford it. The first graduation was on May 24, 1935, with four women receiving diplomas: Juanita Barrington (Mrs. David Holm), Byrtis Avey (Mrs. Elmer Brinkley), La Del Payne (Mrs. Barney Hillard) and Hudnall Spence (Mrs. Robert Southwick).