Best Community Colleges in California 2025

Badge for BEST IN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Published: Mar 11, 2021
Updated: Sep 23, 2024

The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top-rated community colleges in California offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.

Key Takeaways

Community colleges have a more bearable admission process and higher acceptance rates, so getting into one seems significantly easier compared to enrolling in a four-year university. But this does not imply that their courses are simpler or less challenging.
All prospective students can attend the best community colleges in California because of the reasonable tuition costs and financial aid options. You can choose from numerous top-notch institutions to meet your demands in terms of both education and employment.
You may continue your studies at the University of California and California State University if you graduate from a reputable community college in California with a strong GPA. UCLA and CSU give students from California community colleges who excel preference academically.

Table of Contents

10 Best Community Colleges in California in 2025

Los Angeles City College
+1
Pasadena City College
–1
Merritt College
+9
City College of San Francisco
–1
Sacramento City College
El Camino College
+15
Long Beach City College
+8
Santa Barbara City College
–2
Los Angeles Pierce College
+4
San Joaquin Delta College
+15

2025 Ranking Update

Our Influence Ranking Engine™ leverages machine learning to track the real-world influence of colleges and universities over time. Below you’ll see which schools gained or lost ground for the 2025 school year.

In 2025, the ranking of the top ten community colleges in California had a large amount of variation. San Joaquin Delta College, moving up fifteen place, showed the most movement. This was because the school introduced several appealing improvements for the 2025 school year. The college upgraded its campus infrastructure, including modernized classrooms and enhanced technology for both in-person and hybrid learning. In addition, Delta College has increased internship and career training opportunities through new partnerships with local industries, offering students practical, hands-on experience. Sustainability initiatives, including energy-efficient buildings and eco-friendly campus practices, reflect student interest in environmental issues, making the campus more attractive to the student body.

Best Community Colleges in California

Top-rated Community Colleges: California’s Pride

There is a misconception that claims students attend community colleges because their applications for a four-year degree were rejected. Many first-time college students begin their post-secondary degrees in community and junior colleges to save money.

Students take out fewer loans and have a lighter debt load by enrolling in an associate degree before enrolling in a bachelor’s degree. Community colleges are viewed by many students (and parents) as excellent stepping stones. This trend hasn’t diminished during the last few years.

Degrees Offered in Community Colleges in California

Community colleges in California offer a broad range of degrees that can help students transfer to a bachelor’s degree or join the workforce immediately. Community colleges also offer certificate programs that can be completed in an average of six months, mostly utilized as credentials for the workforce to get a job immediately or get promoted.

California community colleges offer associate degrees or two-year degrees: Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Applied Science.

Both the Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degrees are broadly based in the arts or sciences and are intended to transfer to four-year colleges or universities. An AA degree will prepare students for four-year liberal arts degree programs.

An AS degree is best suited for students interested in STEM courses.

AAS degrees, on the other hand, are meant to prepare students for particular careers.

AA and AS degrees are designed to meet a college or university’s lower division criteria so the student can matriculate to a four-year university as a junior. The most sought-after AAS degrees are nursing, computer programming, automotive technology, and criminal justice.

Most community colleges also offer associate’s degrees in arts and sciences for specialized fields. For instance, a person who wanted to study biology at the university level would pursue an associate’s degree. Transfer students will find it easier to finance a bachelor’s degree when they already have an associate degree in the field.

Students looking for the best financial aid and transfer opportunities should look into Pasadena City College, De Anza College, Orange Coast College, Santa Barbara City College, East Los Angeles College, and San Antonio College.

The majority of the community college students in California are busy adults. These students are allowed to complete their degrees through online learning. Online programs add convenience and, frequently, an accelerated curriculum.

Admission Requirements for Community Colleges in California

Every community college in California aims to offer low-cost education to those looking to raise their social standing via learning and employment. Thus, community colleges are seen as open-door institutions with extremely attainable entrance standards that may be satisfied by the majority of applicants.

Unlike four-year universities, community colleges do not set high standards for admission. The primary admission requirements are a high school diploma, GED, or completion of a high school program. 18-year-olds and above are eligible to enroll in community college courses, but they can only take classes that count toward a high school equivalency (GED) or an adult high school diploma.

Like four-year universities, community colleges also allow high school students to enroll in college courses as early as grade 9. Current high school students can enroll in community college courses that qualify for high school and college credit through these initiatives.

We’ve identified 98 community colleges in California. The following list shows the best community colleges and primarily associate degree granting colleges in California.

If you’re interested in an online associate degree, visit our best online associate degrees in California page.

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2024 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2023. That’s because we took a fundamentally different approach. For 2024 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.

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Best Community Colleges in California 2025

Key Takeaways

10 Best Community Colleges in California in 2025

2025 Ranking Update

Best Community Colleges in California

Last Year’s Ranking:

Career Outlook for degree at Los Angeles City College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Pasadena City College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Merritt College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at City College of San Francisco

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Sacramento City College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at El Camino College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Long Beach City College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Santa Barbara City College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Los Angeles Pierce College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at San Joaquin Delta College

Most Influential Alumni

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Most Influential Alumni

Top-rated Community Colleges: California’s Pride

Degrees Offered in Community Colleges in California

Admission Requirements for Community Colleges in California