Norco 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 ...
in
Norco, California
Norco is a city in Riverside County, California, in the United States. Norco is known as Horsetown, USA and prides itself on being a "horse community," with horse trails, hitching posts, and corrals, and city ordinances requiring construction to ...
. Norco College is part of the
Riverside Community College District (RCCD), which is part of the larger
California Community Colleges System
The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 sectio ...
.
History
Preparation for the establishment of Norco College began in the 1980s, when the Riverside Community College District paid the U.S. government one dollar to acquire a parcel of land. (The college is on land once associated with
The Hotel Norconian, a luxury resort that was acquired by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in December, 1941; it was converted into a military hospital during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Today the original hotel property is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
and is currently home to the U.S. Navy’s
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division.)
RCCD opened the Norco Campus in April 1991, with an intent to meet the needs of students in the rapidly growing cities of Corona and Norco. The campus enrolled 3,088 students in its first semester—an opening scheduled to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the parent Riverside institution.
In January, 2010, Norco College received full accreditation from
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), to become 112th accredited college in the state of California Community College System.
2004 Measure C
In March 2004, voters in the Riverside Community College District approved a $350 million bond measure to support the acquisition and modernization of classroom buildings and other facilities on RCCD sites.
A portion of the RCCD Measure C funds were allocated to Norco College, and to date have funded the installation of an artificial turf soccer field and the construction of two new buildings:
* Industrial Technology Building (June 2009)
* Norco College Center for Student Success (October 2010)
Title V funding
Since 2009, Norco College has been awarded two
U.S. Government Title V grants.
In October 2009, Norco College received a $2.8 million five-year grant to enable creation of a
Game Art program with tracks for
Game Design
Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...
,
Game Programming
Game programming, a subset of game development, is the software development of video games. Game programming requires substantial skill in software engineering and computer programming in a given language, as well as specialization in one or mor ...
, and Game Audio. A second component of the grant is the integration of games, simulations, and
electronic portfolio
An electronic portfolio (also known as a digital portfolio, online portfolio, e-portfolio, e-folio, or eFolio) is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web. Such electronic evidence may include input t ...
s into other transfer and career tech programs.
In October, 2011, Norco College was awarded an additional five-year $3.8 million Title V grant to support development of new programs. Norco College is partnering with
California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), to create complementary academic programs in the fields of in commercial music,
new media
New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...
, game programming, and
mobile application development
Mobile app development is the act or process by which a mobile app is developed for mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. These software applications are designed to run on mobile ...
.
Mascot
The mascot of Norco College is the
Mustang
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...
, an icon which reflects the "Horsetown USA" character of Norco.
References
External links
Official website
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Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
California Community Colleges
Universities and colleges in Riverside County, California
Educational institutions established in 1991
1991 establishments in California