The land on which the Sussex County Community College campus is located was first settled before 1751 by Newton's first settler, Henry Hairlocker.

Jonathan Hampton, a surveyor and land investor from Elizabethtown, New Jersey, built his Military Road through the area in 1755 during the French and Indian War.

[1] Newark-based saddle and harness manufacturer, John A. Horton (1807–1858) purchased the property and began construction of a mansion blending features of Rural Gothic and Italianate architecture with plans to establish a working farm on his estate.

[1] On September 12, 1928, the property was sold to the Missionary Society of the Salesian Congregation who organized a Roman Catholic seminary at the Horton Mansion which they renamed to St. Joseph's House of Studies.

[1] The seminary would complete construction of a large red-brick building "to provide dormitories, library, class rooms and laboratories for training Salesian teachers and priests" in 1931.

[2][3] According to local historian Kevin W. Wright, the seminary "received boys who desired to become priests and educators according to the Rule of the Salesian Congregation.

[6] Citing East Orange's worsening crime problem and social conditions, Upsala considered a complete relocation to rural Sussex County, where classes were held briefly with small enrollment from 1981 to 1992.

On August 17, 1981, the New Jersey State Board of Higher Education authorized the creation of a college commission in Sussex County to begin organizing and establishing a public two-year institution.

The Salesian Order sold its 167-acre (68 ha) campus to the Sussex County government on June 22, 1989, for $4.2 million.

The college's fourth president, Constance Mierendorf, was fired in 2010 by the board of trustees in the wake of allegations of shoddy bookkeeping and financial irregularities.

[12][13][14] Mierendorf sued the college claiming that she was illegally terminated in a meeting that resembled a "1950s-style McCarthy witch hunt than a proper public session".

[16] In 2015, with the similar rationale of budget deficits and declining enrollment, the college laid off personnel and raised tuition by ten percent.

[9] SCCC has a television studio facility offering video streaming services for its SCCC/EDTV/20 cable access channel.

[24] The college also operates a Public Safety Training Academy on Sussex County government property located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the main campus in Frankford Township.

[25] The college's Connor Green is home to Sussex County's memorial to the September 11th terrorist attacks.

The memorial features a section of damaged steel I-beam from the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City.

Connolly, who was raised in Morris County, New Jersey, earned degrees in biology and forestry from Colby College, Yale University, and the University of Maine and was recently a dean and vice president at Kennebec Valley Community College in Maine.

[36] General organizational and business matters of the college are overseen by an eleven-member board of trustees of which two members are appointed by the Governor of New Jersey.

[16] Financial matters pertaining to the college's budget, operational expenses, and capital outlays are overseen and appropriated by a Board of School Estimate, delegated authority by the county freeholders, in compliance with state law.

The college's Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) programs are accredited by the state's Department of Health and Human Services; and its home health aide (CHHA) program by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.

[25] In Fall 2013, the student body was 86.1% White or Caucasian, 2.0% Black or African-American, 8.0% Hispanic, 1.3% Asian or Pacific Islander, 0.1% American Indian 0.4% non-resident alien, 2.1% unknown race.

[25] Students with a sufficient grade-point average and satisfactory performance of coursework at SCCC are eligible for transfer to a bachelor's degree program at any four-year public or private college or university in New Jersey with further scholarships.

The college offers career programs that lead to the awarding of several certificates in various professions, health sciences as well as corporate and community education training.

[47] The college also coordinates programmes for adult basic education (ABE) leading to a general equivalency diploma(GED), for developmentally disabled students, and for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses.