Our system of two-year public institutions, composed of 108 colleges statewide organized into 72 districts, serves more than 2.9 million students and represents the largest system of higher education in the world.

Fullerton College

A 1913 department of post-graduate studies at Fullerton High School first established Fullerton Junior College and was the genesis of what is today the North Orange County Community College District. Created to relieve local residents of the inconvenience and costs of traveling long distances to attend college, the department provided the first two years of a traditional post-secondary education. In its first semester, the junior college enrolled 28 students. In 1915, the first class of five students graduated.

By 1922, the Board of Trustees of the high school had come to view the "junior college" courses as serving not only students who wanted to transfer to four-year institutions, but also those who could benefit from cultural or vocational training beyond that offered in high school. In the spring of that year, Fullerton Junior College was organized as a separate district college, although it continued to share with the Fullerton Union High School District a Board of Trustees and many administrators.

Past Administrators of Fullerton Union High School (FUHS) and Fullerton College (FC) include:

Delbert Brunton, Principal FUHS & FC 1913-1916
Edward W. Hauck, Principal FUHS & FC 1916-1918
Louis E. Plummer, Acting Principal FUHS & FC 1918-1919; Principal FUHS & FC 1919-1923; Superintendent of new FUHS & FC District, Principal FUHS 1923-1937; Superintendent FUHS & FC 1937-1941
Frederick Chemberlen, Superintendent FUHS & FC District 1941-1943
Alfred S. Redfern, Superintendent FUHS & FC 1943-1946
Dr. Stanley Warburton, Superintendent FUHS & FC 1946-1958
Dr. Ernest G. Lake, Superintendent FUHS & FC District 1958-1965; Superintendent new NOCCCD 1965-1967

In 1934, the first increment of the present Fullerton College campus was acquired and a development plan was adopted. Much of the detailed Spanish-style construction was completed with federal funding as a means of providing Depression-era employment. In 1936, the college moved its classes from Fullerton High School into its new facilities across the street.

Past Presidents of Fullerton College include:

Dr. William T. Boyce 1917-1950
Dr. H. Lynn Sheller 1950-1969
Dr. John W. Casey 1969-1977
Dr. Philip W. Borst 1977-1994
Jane Armstrong 1994-1995 (Interim)
Dr. Vera M. Martinez 1995-1998
David Ibsen 1998-1999 (Interim)
Dr. Michael Viera 1999-2003
Dr. Sam Schauerman 2003 (Interim)

Current President: Dr. Kathleen O’Connell Hodge 2004-present

North Orange County Community College District

The transition from Fullerton Junior College District to the North Orange County Community College District began with a long-range county study of junior college needs, which predicted a six-fold enrollment increase throughout the county by 1980. The report recommended developing seven new colleges to supplement the three existing junior colleges, and proposed that the existing Fullerton Junior College District be expanded to include three additional unified and high school districts.

In February, 1964, voters approved creation of an interim junior college district that would incorporate the Fullerton College District and form the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD). The interim district included areas that are now known as the Anaheim Union High School District; the Brea-Olinda Unified and the Placentia Unified School Districts. Later, a portion of the Garden Grove Unified School District was added to the NOCCCD's service area.

When the newly-formed district became operational on July 1, 1965, plans were already in place to build colleges in Cypress and Yorba Linda. The first Fullerton College District Board took advantage of an opportunity in 1964 to acquire 170 acres in the Yorba Linda area. That same year, a site selection committee appointed by the interim District Board recommended the purchase of land for a college in the western part of the District, where Cypress is located. Later, an additional 20 acres in Yorba Linda were purchased, expanding that site to 190 acres.

By the time the new District was formed, Fullerton College, which was designed to accommodate 7,000 students, was serving more than 9,000 and had added classes in early morning, late afternoon and Saturdays. The District grew rapidly, building its second college in Cypress to meet the increasing demand for community college courses during the 1960s.

In 1997, a needs analysis and master plan indicated that population growth would be insufficient to qualify for state funding of a third college in Yorba Linda, and the Board of Trustees put the majority of the land up for sale. In November, 1997, 173.05 acres of the land was sold for $16.5 million to a residential development company.

Past Chancellors of the North Orange County Community College District include:

Dr. Charles H. Wilson, Superintendent 1967-1969; Chancellor 1969-1977
Dr. Leadie Clark 1977-1985
Joe Newmyer 1985-1986 (Interim)
Dr. James Kellerman 1986-1989
Bert Cofer 1989-1990 (Interim)
Dr. Tom K. Harris, Jr. 1990-1999
Joe Newmyer 1999-2000 (Interim)

Dr. Jerome Hunter 2000-2008

Current Chancellor: Dr. Ned Doffoney 2008-Present

Cypress College

Cypress College welcomed its first students on September 12, 1966, just 74 days after the last parcel of its land had been acquired. The original campus of 18 temporary modular buildings served a student body of about 1500 and a faculty of 51. Later, the modular units were replaced by 11 permanent buildings, built around a second story piazza that connects the buildings, and a small pond, complete with ducks. The college has received several architectural design awards. The modular buildings remained at Cypress College and became the first of the District's Continuing Education Centers.

Past Presidents of Cypress College include:

Dr. Dan Walker 1966- 1970
Dr. Omar Scheidt 1970-1977
Dr. Jack Scott 1978-1987
Dr. Elma Clamp 1987-1988 (Interim)
Dr. Kirk Avery 1988-1992
Dr. Tom K. Harris, Jr. 1992-1994 (Interim)
Dr. Christine Johnson 1995-1998
Dr. Don Bedard 1998-1999 (Interim)

Dr. Marjorie Lewis 1999-2007

Current President: Dr. Mike Kasler 2007-Present

Continuing Education Centers

In response to the rapid growth of the adult education program, the continuing education center concept launched on the Cypress College campus was later expanded to include three other centers. In the fall of 1982, a four-building complex opened at the Yorba Linda site to provide adult education programs. A 320-seat theatre, the Yorba Linda Forum, is included in the facilities at the site. The District opened the Trident Center in Anaheim in March, 1982, and in January, 1984, opened the Wilshire Center in Fullerton after the purchase and remodeling of a landmark junior high school. In the summer of 1990, the Adult Education program in the Trident Center moved to a new building in Anaheim near the Orange (57) Freeway and Ball Road. The new Anaheim Adult and Continuing Education Center opened for classes in September, 1990, but, because of earthquake safety requirements, that building had to be vacated in July of 1993. Also in 1990, the District opened the Anaheim Higher Education Center as an extension of Fullerton College, to provide specialized training programs and contract instruction for business and industry. The Center was vacated in 1997 when many of the contract instruction programs were re-organized under Continuing Education. In 1998, Adult Continuing Education changed its official name to the School of Continuing Education. In 2002, the District opened the new Anaheim Campus and re-located the staff from the Yorba Linda Center to Anaheim. In 2003, the District began negotiations to sell the remaining land and facilities at the Yorba Linda site to the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, which plans to build a high school on the property. A joint use agreement that will allow the District to continue offering classes at the Yorba Linda site in the evening is being developed.

Past Provosts of Adult Continuing Education include:

John N. Reid Director 1952-1966
Donald Kennedy Director 1966-1984
Augie Huesca Director 1984-1989; Provost 1989-1995

Dr. W. Gary McGuire 1995-2008

Current Interim Provost: Christine Terry 2008-Present

Anaheim Campus

In May, 2001, the District acquired the former Martin Luther Hospital building and converted it to an educational site called the Anaheim Campus. The new campus was officially dedicated November 22, 2002 and classes from Cypress College, Fullerton College, and the School of Continuing Education began in January 2003. The District office in Fullerton has relocated to the Anaheim Campus, along with the administrative offices for the School of Continuing Education from the Yorba Linda Continuing Education Center and the District's Special Services Department and Warehouse at the La Habra Service Center.

The former District Education Center will become part of the Fullerton College campus and will be re-modeled to provide new classroom and office space.