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 undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College 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 Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (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 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, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degrees. The college will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in respiratory care 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 University system, 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 ...

. The current college president is Brian Sanders. The district is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Trustees.

Academics

Modesto Junior College offers

Associate Degrees An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. ...

. 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 Oscar "Zeta" Acosta Fierro (; April 8, 1935 – disappeared May 1974) was a Mexican Americans, Mexican American Lawyer, attorney, author and activist in the Chicano Movement. He wrote the semi-autobiographical novels ''Autobiography of a Brown ...

, Chicano activist, lawyer, and author * René Ahumada (born 1935), Mexican Olympic sprinter * Matt Bettencourt,

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

golfer * Shawn Boskie, 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, professional basketball player * Lee Herrick, California Poet Laureate * Howard Everest Hinton Fellow of the Royal Society (24 August 1912 – 2 August 1977) was a British entomologist and Professor at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

and the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

. * Steve Gonzalez, American football player * John Soares, film director, actor, editor, and fight choreographer; directed '' Sockbaby'' * Dot-Marie Jones, track and field Olympian (competed as Dot Jones) and actress * Ray Lankford, 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 and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

, film director, screenwriter; created ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' and ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

.'' Also directed ''

THX 1138 ''THX 1138'' is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pl ...

'' 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, Paul Le Mat ...

''. * Keith Luuloa, professional baseball player * Gino Marchetti, 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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

, NFL Hall of Famer * Terance Marin, professional baseball player * Jeff Moorad, former sports agent, owner of the San Diego Padres baseball team *David R. Navon, (1920–1949), WWII veteran and smoke jumper killed in the Mann Gulch Fire in Montana, August 5, 1949. Young Men and Fire * Roger Nixon, composer * Ronald Oliveira, American businessman and current CEO of

Revolut Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, doing business as Revolut, is a British multinational neobank and fintech company that offers banking services for individuals and businesses. It was founded in July 2015 by British-Russian-French businessman Niko ...

USA * Alex Olmedo, professional tennis player, Wimbledon champion (1959) * Lindsay Pearce, actress * Brandon Pettit, convicted or murdering his parents, was enrolled in the Fire Training Academy at Modesto Junior College. * Jeremy Renner, actor *

Justin Roiland Mark Justin Roiland (born February 21, 1980) is an American voice actor, animator, writer, and producer. He co-created the Adult Swim animated sitcom ''Rick and Morty'', for which he voiced the protagonists Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith from 2013 ...

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

Rick and Morty ''Rick and Morty'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated science fiction Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadvent ...

'' *

Joe Rudi Joseph Oden Rudi (born September 7, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder between and , most prominently as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won th ...

, professional baseball player (Oakland Athletics) * Erick Threets, professional baseball player (San Francisco Giants) * Bill Werle, professional baseball player * Paul Wiggin, 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 t ...

1952 Olympic gold medal, javelin

References

External links

* {{authority control California Community Colleges Universities and colleges in Stanislaus County, California Education in Modesto, California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges established in 1921 1921 establishments in California Two-year colleges in the United States