Maricopa County Community College District

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), also known as Maricopa Community Colleges, is a public community college district in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is one of the largest community college districts in the United States, helping more than 100,000 students each year in the Phoenix area. The district is based in Tempe.

MCCCD offers many different programs. Students can choose to study for a two-year associate degree or earn occupational certificates. They also have online classes and special programs for students who are still in high school. For people living in Maricopa County, the cost for each credit hour was $85 during the 2022–23 school year.

History

The Phoenix Union High School District started Phoenix Junior College (now Phoenix College) in 1920, the first community college in Arizona. In 1962, county voters created the Maricopa County Junior College District, which took over Phoenix Junior College.

Over the years, new campuses were added in places like Glendale and Mesa. These grew into independent colleges, such as Glendale Community College and Mesa Community College. More colleges joined later, including Scottsdale Community College and Rio Salado Community College.

In 1971, the name changed from "Junior College" to "Community College". By 2010, nursing programs across the colleges united under one curriculum called "MaricopaNursing".

In recent years, changes have included moving to performance-based pay for staff and ending certain employee benefit discussions. Some sports programs were also cut due to budget limits.

Colleges

Maricopa Corporate College

Maricopa Corporate College was started in 2013. It helps businesses and offers learning chances for professionals. It also manages new business projects, like a business starter area at GateWay Community College. Even though it works on its own, it sometimes uses teachers and places from the other Maricopa community colleges.

Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI)

The Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation is a team effort. It includes the City of Phoenix, the Economic Development Administration, and the Maricopa County Community College District. There are also other public and private groups that work together in this partnership.

Governance and leadership

The Maricopa County Community College District is led by a governing board, a president, a chancellor, and a provost. The Governing Board has seven members: five are elected from different areas within Maricopa County, and two are elected by voters from the whole county. The Chancellor is the main leader of the ten colleges in the system. The presidents of each college and four vice chancellors report to the Chancellor, who works under the guidance of the Governing Board.

Lectureships

The Honors Forum Lecture Series brings in well-known speakers to talk about important topics. These topics are chosen by the Phi Theta Kappa honor society to connect students across all colleges.

The Eric Fischl Lecture Series started in 2005 at Phoenix College. It began when artist Eric Fischl, who studied there many years ago, returned to share his experiences.

Name confusion

The Maricopa Community College District, often called Maricopa Community Colleges, is legally named the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). Sometimes people mix this up with Mesa Community College, which is one of the ten colleges in the district and uses the shorter name MCC. The correct short name for the whole district is MCCCD, not MCC.