Southside Virginia Community College has two campuses: the Christanna Campus in Alberta, which opened in 1970, and the John H. Daniel Campus in Keysville, which opened in 1971. The college is part of the statewide system of community colleges created in 1966 by the Virginia General Assembly. This two-year institution of higher education provides Southside Virginia residents university parallel degrees, associate degrees, and career and job training skills. Satellite campuses are in Emporia, Fort Pickett, Halifax, and other locations. In the early-20th century, community colleges began to offer access to higher education for people of all economic and social conditions. They received a great boost when President Harry S. Truman's Commission on Higher Education recommended that higher education be available to everyone. In the 1950s and 1960s community colleges doubled in numbers and enrollment due to the widespread need for a more highly trained workforce, as well as a more economical approach to the first two years of college. Today, community colleges across America allow people to attain goals that were previously beyond their reach. The colleges also serve as a source of cultural enrichment.