Modesto Junior College (MJC) 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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

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 s ...

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the

California Community College 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 secti ...

system along with 112 other public community colleges. The college has two campuses in Modesto. The East Campus is the original campus while the West Campus is the larger of the two. Courses are provided in general education, lower-division transfer programs, occupational and developmental education. MJC is accredited by the

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is an accrediting organization in the United States. It accredits private and public colleges that provide students two-year education programs and confer the associate deg ...

(ACCJC).

History

Modesto Junior College can trace its roots to the decision by the California State Legislature in 1907 to authorize high schools to create ''junior colleges'' what were termed "postgraduate courses of study" similar to the courses offered in just the first two years of university studies. Shortly after the decision by the legislature,

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semester ...

was formed 96 miles south of Modesto. Due to the success of Fresno City College, the state legislature passed legislation in 1921 allowing for the creation of community college districts. Modesto Junior College, founded in September 1921, became the first community college district. Modesto Junior College started out with only 61 students but has since expanded to over 19,000 students. In addition to enrollment increases, the school has expanded to having two campuses MJC West and MJC East along with more than 20 community sites throughout the Yosemite College District that are used to meet particular education needs. In 2015, it was announced that Modesto Junior College would become one of the first community colleges in California to offer

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degrees. The college will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in

respiratory care A respiratory therapist is a specialized healthcare practitioner trained in critical care and cardio-pulmonary medicine in order to work therapeutically with people who have acute critical conditions, cardiac and pulmonary disease. Respirato ...

starting in 2017.

Campus

Modesto Junior College Performing Arts Center

There are two Modesto Junior College campuses; MJC East and MJC West. MJC East is 58.3 arces and MJC West is 167.1 acres – between both campuses, there are 6 large scale agricultural units, 7 (agriculture student) housing units, 74 buildings, 370 rooms including 15 athletic areas, 104 classrooms, 36 common use areas, 21 computer labs, 12 conference rooms, 99 lab classrooms, 16 lectures halls and 10 performance rooms.

Administration

The college is part of the Yosemite Community College District within the

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 secti ...

. The current college president is Dr. Santanu Bandyopadhyay. The district is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Trustees.

Academics

Modesto Junior 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 ...

. The school boasts 19,262 students and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Modesto Junior College provides over 88 Associate Degrees, 30 of which are of Agriculture alone. MJC is also home to an agricultural internship program in which students are given residence on West Campus. The school owns over 100 acres of various crops which it uses to teach the students theory of crop and animal sciences as well as give the students in the field experience.

Athletics

Modesto Junior College is a member of CCCAA. Sports teams are nicknamed the MJC Pirates and their colors are blue and white. MJC has the largest community college sports program in Northern California with 21 sports: Men's and Women's basketball; Men's and Women's Cross Country; Men's Football; Men's and Women's Golf; Men's and Women's Soccer; Women's Softball; Men's and Women's Swimming; Men's and Women's Tennis; Men's and Women's Track; Women's Volleyball; Men's and Women's Water Polo; and Men's Wrestling at the Intercollegiate level respectively.

Notable people

* Oscar Zeta Acosta, Chicano activist, lawyer, and author *

Matt Bettencourt Matt Bettencourt (born April 12, 1975) is an American professional golfer. Born in Alameda, California, Bettencourt turned professional in 2001 after attending Modesto Junior College. In 2008, Bettencourt won twice on the Nationwide Tour, at th ...

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

golfer *

Shawn Boskie Shawn Kealoha Boskie (born March 28, 1967), is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to . He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the first round, 10th overall, in the 1986 Major League B ...

, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs * Robert O. Briggs, marching band director * Gary Condit, served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003 *

Hiram Fuller Hiram Fuller a.k.a. Hesham Ali Salem (born May 13, 1981) is Libyan former professional basketball player, who grew up in the United States. He is a 6'9" (2.06 m), 268 lb (122 kg) power forward. Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, he att ...

, professional basketball player *

Steve Gonzalez Steve Gonzalez (born December 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball a ...

, American football player * John Soares, film director, actor, editor, and fight choreographer; directed '' Sockbaby'' *

Dot-Marie Jones Dorothy-Marie Jones (born January 4, 1964) is an American actress and retired athlete who has had multiple roles in television. She attended California State University, Fresno, where she set records for shot put. Jones is also a 15-time world ...

, track and field Olympian (competed as Dot Jones) and actress *

Ray Lankford Raymond Lewis Lankford (born June 5, 1967) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres from 1990 to 2004. He was known for his combination of power, speed, and defensive prowess. ...

, professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres *

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

, film director, screenwriter; directed ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' and ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

''. * Keith Luuloa, professional baseball player *

Gino Marchetti Gino John Marchetti (January 2, 1926 – April 29, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end and offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played in 1952 for the Dallas Texans and from 19 ...

, professional football player;

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

for

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

, NFL Hall of Famer *

Jeff Moorad Jeffrey S. Moorad is an American businessman and investor. He began his career as a sports agent, before serving as General Partner and CEO of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, and Vice-Chairman and CEO of MLB's San Diego Padres. Player representati ...

, former sports agent, owner of the San Diego Padres baseball team * Roger Nixon, composer * Ronald "Ron" Oliveira, American businessman and current CEO of

Revolut Revolut is a British financial technology company that offers banking services, but did not have a UK banking licence. Headquartered in London, it was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko. It offers accounts featuring currency ...

USA *

Alex Olmedo Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

, professional tennis player, Wimbledon champion (1959) *

Lindsay Pearce Lindsay Heather Pearce (born April 30, 1991) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theatre. She made her Broadway debut as Elphaba in ''Wicked'' in February 2020 and later made her national tour debut as Janis Sark ...

, actress *

Brandon Pettit Brandon Scott Pettit (born October 10, 1987) is an American prisoner who murdered his parents, Janet and David “Scott” Pettit (both 59) in Modesto, California on August 8, 2013. Brandon's friend, Felix Valverde, whom he allegedly hired to comm ...

, convicted or murdering his parents, was enrolled in the Fire Training Academy at Modesto Junior College. *

Jeremy Renner Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as '' Dahmer'' (2002) and '' Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as '' S.W.A.T.'' ...

, actor *

Justin Roiland Mark Justin Roiland (born February 21, 1980) is an American voice actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known as the co-creator of Adult Swim's ''Rick and Morty'' and its subsequent franchise. He voices the show's titular ...

, actor, animator, writer, producer, and director; co-creator of ''

Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...

'' *

Erick Threets Erick Morgan Threets (born November 4, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Erick has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox. He attended Mendenhall Middle School and Granada ...

, professional baseball player (San Francisco Giants) *

Paul Wiggin Paul David Wiggin (born November 18, 1934) is a former American football player and coach who currently serves as the senior consultant for pro personnel with the Minnesota Vikings. After graduating from Stanford University in 1957,

, professional football player (Cleveland Browns) and coach (Stanford Cardinal and Kansas City Chiefs) *

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

1952 Olympic gold medal, javelin

References

External links

* {{authority control California Community Colleges Universities and colleges in Stanislaus County, California Buildings and structures in Modesto, California Education in Modesto, California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Educational institutions established in 1921 1921 establishments in California