Merced is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1, 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council–manager government. It is named after the Merced River, which flows nearby.
Merced County, is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California.
Stanislaus County is a county located in the San Joaquin Valley of the U.S. state of California. As of 2023, its estimated population is 564,404. The county seat is Modesto.
Dos Palos is a city in southern Merced County, California, United States. Dos Palos is located 27 miles (43 km) south-southwest of Merced, the county seat, at an elevation of 118 feet (36 m). The population was 5,798 at the 2020 census, up from 4,950 at the 2010 census.
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.
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communities comprising its primary service area and an enrollment of 35,403 students, ELAC had the largest student body campus by enrollment in the state of California as of 2018. It was located in northeastern East Los Angeles before that part of unincorporated East Los Angeles was annexed by Monterey Park in the early 1970s. ELAC offers associate degrees and certificates.
College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 153-acre site in the San Mateo hills. The college currently serves approximately 10,000 day, evening and weekend students. The college offers 79 A.A./A.S. degree majors, 75 certificate programs and approximately 100 transfer areas and majors.
Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high school students, the college quickly expanded its enrollment to educate college-age students and non-traditional students with the primary intention to transfer to a four-year university The college has high transfer rates to four-year universities such as the Universities of California or California State Universities.
Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79 Associate degree programs, 1 Bachelor's degree program, and 107 certificate programs.
Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. The largest of these by student population is the education center located in Escondido. In 2018, education centers in Rancho Bernardo and Fallbrook opened. The Rancho Bernardo Education Center is located on 27 acres at 11111 Rancho Bernardo Road, and the Fallbrook Education Center is located on 81 acres at 35090 Horse Ranch Creek Road. Other education sites are located at Camp Pendleton and at Ramona High School.
Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state, of California, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, part of the Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.
Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. 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.
The San Mateo County Community College District is a community college system in California with three institutions: College of San Mateo in San Mateo, Cañada College in Redwood City, and Skyline College in San Bruno. The district serves more than 25,000 students each day with both day and evening classes.
Ventura College is a public community college in Ventura, California. Established in 1925, the college has a 112-acre (45 ha) campus with an enrollment of 13,763 students. It is part of the Ventura County Community College District.
Taft College is a public community college in Taft, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges system and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The college is one of only a few community colleges in California to have on-campus housing.
Columbia College is a public community college in Sonora, California. Established in September 1968 as Columbia Junior College, the college dropped "Junior" from its name in 1978. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
Palo Verde College, formerly Palo Verde Junior College, is a public community college in Blythe, California.
The Hmong are a major ethnic group residing in Merced, California. As of 1997, Merced had a high concentration of Hmong residents relative to its population. The Hmong community settled in Merced after Dang Moua, a Hmong community leader, had promoted Merced to the Hmong communities scattered across the United States. As of 2010, there were 4,741 people of Hmong descent living in Merced, comprising 6% of Merced's population.
Modesto Christian School is a private Christian school in Salida, California, on the outskirts of Modesto. It was formerly affiliated with the Assemblies of God; it was founded in 1962 by Pastor Roy Blakeley, who had previously founded Neighborhood Church. It was a charter member of the Association of Christian Schools International. The school educates children from preschool through 12th grade and is divided into an elementary, a middle, and a high school, which are housed on the same campus. It is a small school; combined enrollment was 285 in 2009 and 343 in 2013–14. The first graduating class, in 1976, consisted of 8 students; in 2007 there were 86.
