City College of San Francisco: Courses, Admission, Cost

Julia Bergman in the book City College of San Francisco had said that the history of this college is in a way the history of San Francisco and its transportation system. To give a response to Black Tuesday and the Great Depression, Archibald Jeter Cloud had convinced the San Francisco Board of Education the need for a junior college. City College of San Francisco had officially opened in 1935 at the Industrial School that was a school for juvenile delinquents. Morning classes were held at the University of California Extension Division on Powell Street and the afternoon classes were held at the Galileo High School. Students had to use the trolley system for transportation at that time. As a result, the college had been nicknamed “Trolley Car College”. A permanent main campus opened in 1940 near Ocean Avenue.

The main campus of the City College of San Francisco is known as the Ocean Campus. It has 10 other satellite campuses that are now known as Academic Centers and Outreach Operations. The centers are Airport Center, Chinatown/North Beach Center, Civic Center, Downtown Center, Evans Center, Fort Mason Center, Gough Street Site, John Adams Center, Mission Center, Ocean Campus, and Southeast Center. In 1930, it was because of the architect Timothy L. Pflueger that the CCSF campus had been adorned with pieces of artwork. Some of the artworks that are still there at the Ocean Campus are Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity, Frederick E. Olmsted's Theory and Science, Beniamino Bufano's Saint Francis of the Guns of 1968, The Ram, Goddess of the Forest, and The Beast Sculptures by Dudley C. Carter, an Olmec colossal head by Ignacio Perez Solano, and two low relief polished marble mosaics by Herman Volz.

City College of San Francisco has around 100 training programs and 50 educational programs. CCSF has various degree programs, transfer programs, lifelong learning programs. They also teach English as a Second Language. There are a total of 8 departments. The department of Behavior and Social Sciences and Multicultural Studies offers courses on African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Behavioral Studies, Labor and Community Studies, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies, and others. The department of Business, Fashion, and Hospitality have courses on Child Development and Family Studies, Culinary Arts and Hospitality Studies, Real Estate Education, and Fashion among others. The department of Fine, Applied and Communication Arts offers courses on Broadcast Electronic Media Arts, Journalism, Theatre Arts, Speech Communication, Music, Cinema, etc. The Department of Health, PE and Social Services has courses on Dental Assisting, Older adults, Physical Education and Dance, Licensed Vocational Nursing, and Health Education among others. The department of Science and Mathematics offers courses like Astronomy, Biology, Engineering and Technology, Mathematics, and Architecture. CCSF also has the Department of English and Foreign Languages, Department of ESL, International Education, and Transitional Studies, and the Department of Library and Learning Resources.

The notable alumni of the City College of San Francisco includes American actor, activist and film director Danny Glover, former model and actress Lee Meriwether, actor Bill Bixby, queer Chinese-American activist, and artist Lenore Chinn, mystery novel writer and surrealist painter Kenn Davis, Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, American radio sports presenter for professional baseball player Joe Angel, professional baseball pitcher Doug Davis, professional baseball outfielder Stan Johnson, NFL linebacker Desmond Bishop, CFL quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, publisher and CEO of La Opinion Monica C. Lozano, news anchor and journalist Richard Lui, poet and writer Lorene Zarou-Zouzounis, former federal judge Martin Jenkins, justice of the California Supreme Court Allen Broussard, and Northern Californian rapper Dubee.