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The History of Community Colleges and GCC

  • Joliet Community College

    Joliet Community College
    JCC becomes the first "junior college" by adding 2 years of education to the traditional high school curriculum
  • Phoenix Junior College becomes 1st CC in Arizona

    Phoenix Union high school district forms the Phoenix Junior Colege
  • CCs provide job training

    In the 1930s, community colleges began to focus on job training to help with the unemployment problem of the Great Depression
  • Period: to

    Baby boomers go to college!

    During the decade of the 1960s, the enrollment in community colleges (and the number of community colleges that existed) increased dramatically as the Baby Boomer generation reached college age
  • Maricopa County Junior College District established

  • 2 branches of Phoenix Junior College established in Glendale and Mesa

  • Maricopa Skill Center Established

    This would later be incorporated as part of Gateway community college
  • Period: to

    Higher Education Enrollment Increases in the United States

    Public, 4 year colleges doubled their enrollment
    Community colleges increased enrollment by 5x
  • GCC establisehd

    GCC establisehd
    Glendale community college becomes first CC in the West Valley area of Phoenix
  • CC enrollment reaches 1 million

    CC enrollment reaches 1 million
  • GCC enrollment= 1,974

  • GCC at permanant campus

    GCC at permanant campus
    College moved to its permanant, 147 acre campus, complete with over 200 palm trees. During its first year, the college had been in a termporary facilities at extension branches of Phoenix College
  • Maricopa Technical College opens

    This would become Gateway community college
  • Scottsdale community college opens

  • CC enrollment at 2.2 million

  • Name changed to Maricopa County Community College

  • Rio Salado opens

  • CC enrollment at 4.3 million

  • South Mountain Community College opens

  • Northeast Valley Education Center opens

    Now Paradise Valley community college
  • Chandler-Gilbert branch opens

  • Period: to

    Short-term CC certificates increases 85%

    The number of short-term certificates granted by community colleges in the United States rose from 46,447 to 85,941
  • Estrella Mountain opens

  • Nearly have of all college students attend CC

    48% of all public college students are enrolled at community colleges
  • CC enrollment 5.3 million

  • GCC North Opens

    GCC North Opens
    GCC North is established to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Northwest Valley
  • Red Mountain branch of Mesa CC opens