California Community Colleges and Public Two-Year Colleges

Junior Colleges, Technical Institutes, and Schools

The State of California administers its own system of higher education which operate at least two tiers of public colleges. One being the community colleges in California, sometimes called California junior colleges, or California technical institutes, and so-called "four-year" California colleges which award bachelor's and master's degrees. The "two-year" community educational institutions provide post-secondary education and lower-level tertiary education, granting certificates, diplomas, and associate's degrees in California. The name, "community colleges" derives from the fact that "two-year" colleges primarily accept, and attract, students from the California local community

California operates the nation's largest community college system with 106 public colleges, 11 private independent colleges and one tribal college. The California Legislature in 1907 authorized high school districts to offer college-level coursework. In 1921, the legislature authorized the formation of separate junior college districts and in 1929 authorized the first state general fund payments to junior colleges.

In 1960 the first comprehensive state master plan for higher education in the nation, was placed into statute. The plan identified the junior colleges as full partners in a three member state system with the University of California and California State University, while maintaining the community colleges' locally elected governing boards' taxing authority.

In 1967, the state agreed to provide approximately 50% of the funding for all new college. However in 1978, voters approved Proposition 13, eliminating the ability of local governing boards to levy taxes and moving funding for two year colleges to the state level. In 1983, the governor reduced college funding, and the legislature adopted a tuition system for the two-year colleges

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California colleges and universities offer it all. Beyond the beauty of California's coast, its forests, and its deserts and farm country, colleges and universities in California offer more or less every type of education imaginable.

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