Junior colleges are often called community or even technical or city colleges. They are primarily two-year public institutions that offer higher education and lower-level tertiary education, granting certificates, diplomas and associate degrees. California has the lowest community college enrollment fees in the nation, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.
Junior colleges in California offer an associate degree to students upon graduating, which is useful for obtaining a broader spectrum of higher-paying jobs. Many junior colleges in Southern California have an arrangement with four-year university schools so that students can seamlessly transfer credits from junior colleges to four-year institutions to pursue a bachelor's degree. Some Southern California junior colleges offer a certification course in areas such as nursing, law enforcement and computers. A few junior colleges even offer bachelor's degrees, such as at Mt. San Antonio College and Palomar College in Southern California.
Most community colleges offer five facets of education. The first is transfer education, where students attending them continue on to four-year institutions for a bachelor's degree. This is a financial solution for California students where four-year universities average $12,000 while junior colleges average only $4,000, according to an estimate by the Legislative Analyst's Office. The second facet is career education, where students receive an associate degree and then enter the workforce, which is useful for California students looking for a quick edge up in the job market. The third facet is continuing, where students enroll in courses for personal development rather than course credit. The fourth is developmental, where students take part in remedial education when they are not academically ready to enroll in a four-year institution. The fifth is industry training, where students' classes are paid for by their employer for specific, usually job-related, training or courses. In California these can include state-funded training in a project known as Economic & Workforce Development.
West Hills College in Coalinga, California, was rated number 34 by "Washington Monthly" in the top 50 community colleges in the U.S., based on a 60 percent rating in active and collaborative learning, 57 percent student effort and 52 percent student-faculty interaction. This community college offers post-secondary certificate and diploma awards in accounting, automotive mechanics technology, biological sciences, criminal justice, human resources management, humanities, liberal arts, performing arts, public health and social sciences.