MiraCosta College is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
serving coastal North
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...
in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
with two campuses, one in eastern
Oceanside and the other in
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and many satellite locations, including the Community Learning Center in western Oceanside.
History
MiraCosta was founded in 1934. Classes began in a wing at
Oceanside High School
Oceanside High School (California) is an American public secondary school located in Oceanside, California. It is part of the Oceanside Unified School District.
History and Campus
Oceanside High School is one of two high schools in the Oceanside ...
. Originally, MiraCosta was known as Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College. There were 122 students enrolled and 20 faculty members. It was the second community college to be established in San Diego County. Only 16 courses were initially offered, and they counted as credit toward
advanced standing
Transfer credit, credit transfer, or advanced standing are the terms used by colleges and universities for the procedure of granting credit to a student for educational experiences or courses undertaken at another institution. This is a subset of ...
at the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
.
By 1959, enrollment in Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College had grown to 500 full-time students in classrooms on adjacent to Oceanside High School. In 1960, voters approved a separate community college district and a bond issue to provide funding for a new college campus.
In 1964, the college relocated to its present hilltop location and was renamed MiraCosta College. The name MiraCosta (Spanish for "behold the coast") refers to the panoramic ocean and coastal mountain views from the campus. The property was purchased for $575,000 and was part of a parcel owned by renowned ice skater
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...
. A neighborhood in Oceanside named Henie Hills is to the west of the campus.
The district once again expanded in 1976 to include all of the North County coastal communities from
Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...
to
Del Mar
Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Del Mar, California
* Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California
* Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California
* Del Mar Fai ...
. By 1978, enrollment was more than 7,000 students. A satellite campus opened in Del Mar in a vacant elementary school. This campus served students who lived in the southern portion of the district. In the first semester, 1,034 credit students enrolled. Soon after, MiraCosta purchased a parcel near the San Elijo Lagoon in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. The San Elijo Campus opened in 1988 to 2,500 credit students.
In 2000, the Adult Learning Center relocated to its current permanent CLC location on Mission Avenue in Oceanside and was renamed the Community Learning Center. The center has expanded its adult education offerings to include parenting classes, workshops for older adults, and programs for those who are physically and mentally challenged. The Cisco Academy, offering training in computer networking, is also housed at the center. The college's Small Business Development Center is next door.
In 2002, MiraCosta opened the doors to its new Child Development Center on the Oceanside Campus, which provides both academic instruction to students and child care services to student, staff, and community families. The curriculum is specifically designed to encourage early childhood learning.
The Oceanside Campus opened a significantly larger library in 2003.
In November 2005, MiraCosta, in partnership with Genentech and other local biotech firms opened the biotech facility, designated as a Center of Excellence in bioprocessing by the U.S. Department of Labor. Across the street from the biotechnology facility, a remodeled Horticulture Complex was dedicated in August 2007, housing a greenhouse, laboratories, and classrooms specifically designed to give students a "hands on" learning experience in the art and science of cultivating plants.
MiraCosta has also invested in the arts, remodeling the theatre and creative arts buildings. In the beginning of 2007, the new theatre hosted its first show. In 2010, MiraCosta opened a new Concert Hall for music performances.
In 2004, Tim Dong retired after serving ten years and Victoria Muñoz Richart took over as superintendent and president. Dr. Richart served just under three years, and after her departure in June 2007, MiraCosta had two interim superintendent/presidents, John Hendrickson and Susan Cota. In March 2009, MiraCosta welcomed new superintendent/president Francisco Rodriguez.
A great deal of controversy occurred, regarding the former president Victoria Muñoz Richart, the instructor Alleen Texiera, and the board of trustees. The college was then placed on warning by its accrediting agency, which was eventually reversed after administrative changes.
In 2015, MiraCosta introduced a scholarship for transgender students.
Academics
MiraCosta College offers
associate degrees
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The f ...
equivalent to the first two years of a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
(2+2 program). With an associate degree, students can transfer to a 4-year university or begin
work
Work may refer to:
* Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community
** Manual labour, physical work done by humans
** House work, housework, or homemaking
** Working animal, an animal t ...
. MiraCosta also offers over 50 different certificates for students interested in short-term training in a specific career area. Certificates can be completed in one or two years.
The college was also selected as one of 15 California community colleges authorized to offer a bachelor's degree program by the California state legislature. Course work for the biomanufacturing bachelor's degree was scheduled to begin in fall 2017 and build on the current associate's biomanufacturing degree already in place. The degree program will prepare students for work within the biotechnology industry in the unique environment of biological production where science thrives in partnership with quality and compliance. The total cost of the degree is estimated to be approximately $10,000.
Athletics
MiraCosta College's men's/women's basketball and soccer teams compete in the
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...
. MiraCosta also has a surf team that competes in the college division of the
National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA). In 2018, the MiraCosta rugby team won the NSCRO Men's Challenge Cup. The school colors are blue, green, and white, and the college's team name is the
Spartan
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta refe ...
s. Intramural sports are also offered to the campus community.
Campus life and resources
Student Resources: Library and Information Hubs at both the Oceanside and San Elijo campuses; more than 1,000 networked computers for student use; Wellness Center at the Oceanside Campus; free tutoring in nearly every subject; more than 1,500 students participate in Service Learning projects related to class curricula; Honors Scholars Program and active national honor society.
College activities: Periodic "College Hour" events during the noon hour featuring many cultural events and performing arts featuring guest artists as well as student work.
LGBTQ+ Student Scholarships
MiraCosta College offers four different LGBTQ+ student scholarships. All four scholarships are fully-endowed and managed by the MiraCosta College Foundation; these scholarships will be awarded annually as long as the college exists. Two of the endowed scholarships, the Trans* Pride Scholarship and the Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) Scholarship, are the first fully-endowed scholarships for transgender and QTPOC students in the world. LGBTQ+ student scholarships include:
* Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Club Scholarship (2014)
* Joe Maak & Pride Resource Partners LLC Scholarship (2016)
* Trans* Pride Scholarship (2017)
* Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) Scholarship (2019)
Notable alumni
*
Adam Brody
Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor, writer, musician, and producer. He is known for his breakthrough role as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series ''The O.C.'', which premiered in 2003. Subsequently, Brody appeared ...
, actor on the
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
series, ''
The OC
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...
''
*
Kevin Towers
Kevin Scott Towers (November 11, 1961 – January 30, 2018) was an American executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the general manager of the San Diego Padres from 1995 to 2009 and for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010 to 2014.
Early ...
, general manager of the
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...
References
External links
Official website
{{authority control
California Community Colleges
Universities and colleges in San Diego County, California
North County (San Diego County)
Oceanside, California
Educational institutions established in 1934
1934 establishments in California
Two-year colleges in the United States