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The 'California Community Colleges' system consists of 109 community colleges in 72 community college districts in the U.S. state of California. Created by legislation in 1967, it is the largest system of higher education in the world, serving more than 2.5 million students each year who have a wide variety of educational and career goals.
The system is administered by the Chancellor's Office located in Sacramento, which is responsible for allocating state funding and provides leadership and technical assistance to the colleges. The CCC system, along with the research-oriented University of California system and the teaching-oriented California State University system, together form California's system of public higher education.
The CCCS is governed by the Board of Governors which, within the bounds of state law, sets systemwide policy. The 17 Board members, who represent the public, faculty, students, and classified employees, are appointed by the Governor of California as directed by Section 71000 of the California Education Code [2]. The Board is also directed by the Education Code to allow local authority and control of the community college districts to the "maximum degree permissible" and AB 1725 in 1974 added a formal consultation process which has resulted in the formation of a consultation council [3] to assure the Board of Governors and Chancellor's Office remain responsive in this respect.
The Chancellor of the system brings policy recommendations to the Board of Governors, and possesses the authority to implement the policies of the Board through his leadership of the Chancellor's Office. The Chancellor plays a key role in the consultation process.

Contents

History

Governance

External links

History

In 1907, the California Legislature, seeing a benefit to society in education beyond high school but realizing the load could not be carried by existing colleges, authorized the state's high schools to offer what were termed "postgraduate courses of study" similar to the courses offered in just the first two years of university studies. Thanks to the efforts of people such as Professor Alexis F. Lange, Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, the ''Junior College Act'' was passed in 1917, expanding the mission by adding trade studies such as mechanical and industrial arts, household economy, agriculture, and commerce. By 1932 there were 38 junior colleges in the state. The 1944 GI Bill dramatically increased college enrollments, and by 1950 there were 50 junior colleges. By 1960 there were 56 districts in California offering junior college courses, and 28 of those districts were not high school districts but were "junior college districts" formed expressly for the governance of those schools.
The 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education and the resulting ''Donahoe Act'' was a turning point in higher education in California. The UC and CSU systems were to limit their enrollments, yet an overall goal was to "provide an appropriate place in California public higher education for every student who is willing and able to benefit from attendance", meaning the junior colleges were to fulfill this role. By 1967 studies were showing that the California Department of Education was not doing an adequate job of leading the junior colleges, and legislation passed control from the Board of Education to a new community college system with a Chancellor's Office and Board of Governors. The degree of local control in this system, a side effect of the origins of many colleges within high school districts, can be seen in that 52 of the 72 districts (72%) govern only a single college; only a few districts in major metropolitan areas control more than four colleges.
California residents do not pay tuition for community colleges or public universities. Rather, they pay an enrollment fee. Non-resident and international students, however, pay tuition, usually an additional $100 per unit (or credit).
In the past decade, tuition and fees have fluctuated with the state's budget. For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, enrollment fees ranged between $11 and $13 per credit. However, with the state's budget deficits in the early-to-mid 2000s, fees rose to $18 per unit in 2003, and, by 2004, reached $26 per unit, the highest level in the state's history. Since then, fees have dropped. The current enrollment fee is $20 per unit, down $6 since January 2007. It is the lowest enrollment fee of any college or university in the United States.

Governance

Like the two California university systems, the CCCS is headed by an executive officer and a governing board. The 17 member Board of Governors sets direction for the system and is in turn appointed by the California Governor. They appoint the Chancellor who is the chief executive officer of the system. Locally elected Boards of Trustees work on the district level with Presidents who run the individual college campuses.[4]

External links

★ California Community Colleges - Chancellor's Office

★ Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

★ Student Senate for California Community Colleges

★ Community College League of California (CCLC)

★ Commission on Athletics

★ ICanAffordCollege.com

★ 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education