The California Community Colleges Board of Governors officially recognized the Madera Community College Center in the State Center Community College District as Madera Community College, making it the 116th college in the nation’s largest higher education system.

The move follows a vote by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges granting the campus its initial accreditation at the Commission’s June meeting.

“We are proud to welcome Madera Community College to the family of California community colleges,” said Tom Epstein, President of the Board of Governors. “We congratulate the dedicated faculty and district leadership for providing this underserved area of the Central Valley with expanded learning opportunities to help more students achieve their educational goals.”

Madera Community College has an enrollment of approximately 5,600 students and is the fourth college in the State Center Community College District.

It opened on its current, 114-acre site donated by local landowners in 1996 and comprises an administrative building, an Academic Village Complex with 50,000-square feet of classroom and laboratory space, a sports and fitness complex and advanced manufacturing center.

“This accomplishment is something that our community has been waiting for a long time and much needed.” said campus President Angel Reyna. “It has been a collective and collaborative effort, and I look forward to the continued work to better serve our students as a college. As a new college we want to be an institution that is student and community centered, and provides equitable outcomes for each of our students, and to that end we commit towards transforming ourselves into an anti-racist institution while producing the future workforce our community needs.”

Madera Community College’s goal is to provide a “welcoming, clear and engaging campus environment through a Guided Pathways approach for all students resulting in the fulfillment of the College’s mission, vision and values.”

Guided Pathways is a highly structured approach with a set of clear course-taking patterns to promote better enrollment decisions based on a student’s interests.

The California Community Colleges Vision for Success identifies Guided Pathways as the primary vehicle for achieving six key goals to improve student outcomes and promote equity and economic mobility in the California Community Colleges system.

Projections indicate Madera Community College’s service area will be among the fastest-growing population centers in the Central Valley. More than 80 percent of its students are from historically underrepresented populations and the campus has been recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 116 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.