Originally called the Central Campus, the Annandale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College was the first official campus of NOVA. The Annandale Campus Library Archives offers an ever expanding database of digital images that highlight this history Our digital collection includes photographs and student publications. The physical archives is located in the Annandale Campus Library in the Godwin Building.
In 1965, Northern Virginia Technical College opened for classes with 761 students in the Carlyn Springs Road warehouse, located in Bailey’s Crossroads. To accommodate an ever-growing student body, the college purchased 78 acres in Annandale in 1966 for construction of the first of six NOVA campuses. Robert W. McKee served as the first president of the college. Soon after, the college was renamed Northern Virginia Community College when the Virginia General Assembly changed the name of the technical college system to the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).
Originally known as the Central Campus for its central location in Fairfax County, the Annandale Campus is the largest of NOVA’s six campuses. Construction began in 1967, and the campus dedicated its first building in 1968. Dr. Richard J. Ernst succeeded Robert W. McKee as president in 1968, and additional buildings were constructed during his tenure in 1969, 1970, 1972, 1992, and 1997. The Annandale Campus added a new student services building in the Fall of 2011.
Today, the Annandale Campus has a sprawling fifteen-building campus that hosts about 23,000 students each year and offers more than forty programs of study.