Orange Coast College
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Orange Coast College (OCC), founded in 1948, is a community college providing two-year associate of arts degrees, and lower-division classes transferable to other colleges and universities.
OCC is located in Costa Mesa, California, about 40 miles (63km) south of Los Angeles. It is 20 minutes from Disneyland, and from two hours to a half day from the mountains and ski regions of Southern California.
The college is one of three of the Coast Community College District, a regional organization providing administrative services and funding for post-secondary education. The district is chartered by the state of California to provide community college services.
The mission of OCC is to provide inexpensive education in the trades, licensed trades and skilled professions, as well as remedial and transferable lower-division courses for students who plan to transfer to either a California State university, or a campus of the University of California.
OCC offers associate of arts (2 year) degrees in:
- Business Data Processing (OCC maintains an IBM i-series mainframe)
- Accounting
- Business
- Construction (OCC Students actually construct structures)
- Agriculture (OCC has agricultural fields)
- Aviation Mechanic (FAA-certified programs for airframe, powerplant and avionics)
- Pilot (ground school for general aviation)
- Child Development (OCC has a child-center with an Intern program)
- Electronics
- Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning
- Machining (Become a Machinist!)
- Welding
OCC also has complete, transferable lower-division undergraduate programs in:
- Mathemetics
- Economics
- History
- Physics
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Philosophy
- English (an emphasis on literature and critical theory is available)
- French
- German
- Latin and Classics
- Music (Opera training is available- Several OCC students have become stars!)
- Painting
- Sculpting
- Acting
- Dance
- Physical Education, including athletic teams
- Sailing (OCC maintains a sail base in Newport Beach, and teaches navigation)
OCC has active clubs, but some people find the campus community disappointing because it is primarily a commuter college serving local people.
On-campus housing is not available, and local housing is expensive, approximately $750 per month for a small single-bedroom apartment. Local rooms in houses rent for about $350 per month. The minimum wage of $5.75 is about half of the income required to live in Costa Mesa.
Costs and admission
For California residents, costs are about $26 (recently raised from $18, mandated by the state) per unit. For non-residents, costs are about $150 per unit. A typical two-year program has 60 units. Students need a certified transcript from a high school, and a grade average of 2.0 or better for admission to nonremedial courses.
Notable alumni and former students
- Paul Frank - founder and creative director of Paul Frank Industries
- Dustin Nguyen - Vietnamese-American actor and model
- Robert B. Weide - writer, director, producer
External links
- Orange Coast College (http://www.occ.cccd.edu/)
- Coast Community College District (http://www.cccd.edu)