Rio Hondo 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 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 ...

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

. The college is named after the Rio Hondo. Founded in 1960, it mainly serves the cities of Whittier,

Pico Rivera Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as the ...

, Santa Fe Springs, El Monte, and

South El Monte South El Monte is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,116, down from 21,144 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States ...

. Rio Hondo College offers 30 associate degrees for transfer that guarantee transfer to California State Universities, 60 associate degrees and 127 certificates. Rio Hondo offers on-campus, online, and off-campus courses to all of its students. It is the first community college in California offering a

bachelor's 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 si ...

degree in Automotive Technology. Rio Hondo also offers a Pathway to Law School program to one of six top California law schools. It is accredited by Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. Aside from its academic programs, the college is also home to Rio Hondo Fire Academy, Rio Hondo Wildland Fire Academy, EMT Program, and Rio Hondo Police Academy.

History

Rio Hondo College District was established in October 1960, encompassing the boundaries of

Whittier Union High School District Whittier Union High School District is a California high school district serving most of the city of Whittier, the unincorporated communities of East Whittier, South Whittier, West Whittier-Los Nietos and Rose Hills, and parts of Norwalk, L ...

. As it expanded to include the El Rancho Unified and El Monte Union High School Districts, it established a board of trustees in April 1962. In May 1963, the board named the proposed community college Rio Hondo, named after the neighbouring Rio Hondo River. While voters in the district approved a US$12 million to build Rio Hondo College in October 1963, classes were temporarily conducted at Sierra and El Rancho High Schools. The present campus, off Workman Mill Road, was opened for classes in Fall 1966.

Demographics

In 2017-2018, Rio Hondo College had a 4,406 full-time and part-time 15,542 enrollment of students with a total of 19,948. The student-faculty ratio is 32-to-1. The largest group of students consists of 20- to 24-year-olds (30%). The second largest group (20%) were 19 or younger. The average age of students at Rio Hondo is 26. 51% of students intended to transfer. The top feeder

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s (2005-2009) are as follows: Whittier High School, El Rancho High School,

Montebello High School Founded in 1909, Montebello High School is a public high school which is part of the Montebello Unified School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 2,600 students in grades 9-12. Its campus is located in Montebello, California, a subur ...

, California High School, Schurr High School, Santa Fe High School and Pioneer High School. The in-state tuition and fees for 2017-2018 were $1,360, and out-of-state tuition and fees were $6,960. There is no application fee.

Student life

All full-time students (students enrolled in 12 or more units in a semester) are eligible for a free bus pass for transport with the Norwalk Transit, Metro,

Foothill Transit Foothill Transit is a public transit agency that is government funded by 22 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys. It operates a fixed-route bus public transit service in the San Gabriel Valley region of eastern Los Angeles Cou ...

, Sunshine Shuttle and

Montebello Bus Lines Montebello Bus Lines is a municipal bus operator in Montebello, California, USA, mainly serving East Los Angeles, Commerce, and Montebello. History Montebello Bus Lines began on 28 July 1931, with a small lot on the corner of Greenwood Avenue ...

. Negotiations between the Rio Hondo College Board of Trustees created this programme as early as 2006, which was proposed by Gary Mendes, Governing Board Member and followed by staff member Dr. Andy Howard. The programm was named the Rio Hondo College Bus Pass Subsidy Programm, and has since been dubbed "GO RIO" and officially began during the 2006–2007 school year. In 2012, the school also received a $500,000 federal grant to run a shuttle bus around campus. The official student newspaper of the college is titled ''El Paisano''.''El Paisano'' newspaper
Retrieved on March 6, 2008.

Academics

It is the first community college in California offering a bachelor's degree in Automotive Technology. Rio Hondo also offers a Pathway to Law School program to one of six top California law schools. Popular programs include:

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...

and

Sciences Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

, General Studies and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, and Related Support Services, and

Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...

Law Enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

Firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

and Related Protective Services.

National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium

Rio Hondo College is a NAFTC Training Center.

Facilities

In 2004, voters in the Rio Hondo College Community School District approved Measure A, which gave the school US$245 million to renovate the campus, including the construction of new buildings on campus, such as the Learning Resource Centre and Library, Student Services and Student Union and Administration of Justice Buildings (completed 2011). Construction began in 2006 and is expected to continue until 2018, as part of the master plan. Rio Hondo College has also expanded off-site, at the 297 square metres South Whittier Educational Centre and plans to construct a 404 square metres facility in El Monte.

Notable alumni

Art Acevedo Hubert Arturo Acevedo (born July 31, 1964) is an American police officer who is the interim chief of police of the Aurora Police Department as of December 2022. Previously, he was the chief of police of the Houston Police Department, Austin Pol ...

– former chief of the Houston Police Department * Luis Aguilar – soccer player * Troy Archer – American football player * William John Cox – public interest attorney, author and political activist. * Evan Longoria –

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

player for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

* Gloria Molina – politician, former member of the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...

1991–2014 *

Lorna Patterson Lorna Patterson (born October 1, 1956) is an American film, stage and television actress and, more recently, a Jewish cantor. As an actress, her best-known roles were as Randy, the singing stewardess, in ''Airplane!'', and as the lead in the tel ...

– film actress * Lauren Tewes – film actress *

Norma Torres Norma Judith Torres (née Barillas ; born April 4, 1965) is an American politician. She is a member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 35th congressional district. Previously, she was a member of the California State S ...

– member of the United States House of Representatives

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control California Community Colleges Whittier, California Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California Educational institutions established in 1960 Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges 1960 establishments in California Two-year colleges in the United States