Peralta Community College District consist of four colleges Merritt College, Laney College, College of Alameda, and Berkeley City College. This is section contains public information about the quality of education and educational news about the Peralta Community College District from 1960's to present --see Institutional Research for student data.
Merritt College is nestled in the hills above San Francisco Bay. It offers students the opportunity to study in one of the most dramatic natural settings in Northern California. With a panorama that includes the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean, Merritt's striking vistas provide a breathtaking backdrop for a packed roster of first-rate academic and vocational programs. Merritt, minutes from the East Bay's busiest commercial centers, boasts acclaimed programs in Community Social Services, Registered Nursing, Child Development, Nutrition and Dietetics, Environmental Studies, and Landscape Horticulture. Merritt's 7,000 students benefit from a diverse, sophisticated and startlingly beautiful learning environment, as well as excellent student-support services and a dedicated faculty and staff. Two Merritt College students, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther Party in 1966. The college originally opened in the former Grove Street campus of University High School on Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
Laney College, in the heart of vibrant, multicultural downtown Oakland, features the cosmopolitan atmosphere and human energy of a big-city university. Across the street from the Oakland Museum of California, blocks from historic Chinatown, and a pleasant stroll from both Lake Merritt and the Oakland Estuary, Laney gives its 12,000-plus students ready access to the city's formidable intellectual, cultural, and natural resources. With renowned programs in such fields as Journalism, Culinary Arts, Mathematics, Machine Technology, and Ethnic Studies, Laney has been a leader in academic and vocational education for decades. A talented faculty and dedicated staff, not to mention a new state-of-the-art technology center, ensure that Laney will remain at the forefront of Information Age community education for years to come.
College of Alameda, California's only community college located on an island, is situated on a beautiful park-like campus and offers the quiet of a suburban setting in a bustling urban environment. Founded in 1970, College of Alameda has served more than 200,000 students and enjoys a well-deserved reputation for the excellence of its academic, vocational, and student- support programs. A range of unique classes awaits you at College of Alameda, including Aviation Maintenance Technology, Apparel Design, Automotive Technology, and various ESL programs. College of Alameda is nationally recognized for the innovative ways that it meets the educational needs of a complex, diverse, and dynamic community.
Berkeley City College (formally known as Vista College) is just two blocks from the University of California, Berkeley and stands on the cutting edge of community college education. University preparation and occupational training classes form the core of BCC's curriculum, which also features model programs in fields as diverse as American Sign Language, Biotechnology, and Multimedia. A special arrangement allows BCC's students to complete lower-division requirements in evening and Saturday classes on the U.C. Berkeley campus. Respected academicians and successful entrepreneurs, BCC faculty represent a broad cross-section of the Bay Area's ethnic, cultural, and economic communities. BCC's more than 4,000 students, studying amid the Bay Area's opportunity-rich culture of innovation, are sure to be up to all tomorrow's challenges. And a new, state-of-the-art building is coming soon - one that represents just how cutting-edge BCC really is.
