Ozarka College (OC) is a two-year public post-secondary institution located primarily in Melbourne, Arkansas, with satellite campuses in Mountain View and Ash Flat, and class offerings in Mammoth Spring, Salem and Viola. Serving the populations of Izard, Stone, Fulton, and Sharp counties, Ozarka has benefited greatly from the Arkansas legislature passing ACT 1244, which permitted it to grow into a full fledged community college. This was done as part of a wider movement to transform Arkansas' technical schools into community colleges. The school opened in 1975 as Ozarka Vocational-Technical School and was renamed to Ozarka Technical College by the Arkansas legislature in 1991. In 1999, it dropped the word Technical from its name to emphasize its wider range of programs. Currently the college enrolls approximately 1,300 students per semester. In 1996 the Ozarka College was accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2002, the college received a 30-acre (120,000 m) donation to serve as the site of a distance learning center in Ash Flat, Arkansas.