In July 1973, action by the Nebraska legislature formed six community college areas and connected every county in the state to one of the six community college areas. At that time, McCook Junior College, Nebraska’s first two year college, was renamed McCook Community College and merged with Mid-Plains Voc-Tech and North Platte Junior College to become Mid-Plains Community College.

On July 1, 1974, a group of McCook citizens came together acting as incorporators under the Nebraska Non-Profit Corporation Act, to form the McCook College Foundation. This corporation was formed to operate as a charitable foundation exclusively for the promotion and support of McCook Junior College, its educational programs, faculty, employees, and students, and to receive and hold in trust, gifts given, granted, devised, or bequeathed to the Foundation for the use or benefit of McCook Junior College, or any student. The initial ten Board of Directors in July 1974 were:

Dr. John Batty		Lester Harsh
Lloyd Benjamin		Gwen McKenzie
Larry Carpenter		Allen Strunk
Donal Green		Don Thompson
Eleanor Harris		Ralph von Riesen