Cypress College


Cypress College is a comprehensive community college located in Cypress, in southern California, United States. The college is one of 112 in the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education, transfer courses, and 145 vocational programs leading to associate degrees and certificates.

History

The college opened on September 12, 1966.

Campus

The campus, covering an area of, was designed by architect Frank Lawyer of the Houston, Texas-based firm Caudill Rowlett Scott. It features several futuristic-looking buildings set around a central lake. The college is noteworthy in that it has never completely abandoned the style of buildings it was initially created with. The new library, which opened on January 30, 2006, still bears heavy resemblance to the school's original buildings, though the use of concrete is de-emphasized in favor of glass.
Cypress College is located in the shadow of major tourist attractions such as Disney's theme parks and Downtown Disney, Knotts' Berry Farm, and The Outlets at Orange entertainment complex. The campus is 12 miles from the beach and is close to Long Beach, California and Los Angeles. The campus is located at 9200 Valley View Street in the city of Cypress.

Organization and administration

Cypress College operates with a decentralized approach of separate academic "divisions," allowing the benefits of both a small and large college campus. Each of the campus' instructional buildings was designed with a commons area where students with similar majors could meet and study.
The college is a part of the North Orange County Community College District. The campus is also part of the California Community College System.

Campus presidents

¹ Served in an interim capacity.

Academic profile

Cypress College's student population reaches nearly 17,000 per semester, though that number has fluctuated in recent years based on the level of state funding provided and other economic factors. Spring 2012 enrollment was approximately 15,000.
The college features a strong mix of ethnic diversity in its student population: 33% are Caucasian, 27% are Latino, 19% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 8% are Filipino, 6% are African American, and 5% are from other ethnicities or their ethnicity is unidentified.
The college is a Training Center for the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium. Cypress College Registered Nursing program graduates scored a 97.26% pass-rate in the 2004/2005 test years, 95.38% pass-rate for 2005/2006 test years, and 98.91% pass rate in the 2006/2007 test years on the State of California Board of Registered Nursing NCLEX state licensure examination. Approximately 24% of students fail the RN program.
Cypress College is home to the only mortuary science program in the greater Orange County and Greater Los Angeles areas, and is one of only two such public programs in the state of California.

Library

The Cypress College Library has a collection of approximately 70,000 books, 5,000 periodicals, a large collection of reference works, and a variety of DVDs. The library offers students free 24/7 access to electronic databases with full text magazine, newspaper, journal, and encyclopedia articles. The library's special collections/archives houses materials that hold value to the college. These collections are not open to the public.

Student life

Sports

Cypress College has 13 intercollegiate teams, including men's and women's teams. The athletics teams are nicknamed the Chargers. For men the school offers baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, swim & dive, and tennis. Women are offered basketball, soccer, softball, swim & dive, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. These programs have attained 73 conference titles and 24 state championships.

Clubs

There are many clubs offered at Cypress College. Clubs active as of fall 2013 are the Anime Club, Associated Mathematicians of Cypress College, Black Student Union, Campus Christians, Engineering and Physics Club, Honors Club, Human Services Club, International Club, Muslim Students Association, and Psychology Club.

Arts

Cypress College hosts student performances, exhibitions and events throughout the year. Theater, dance and music studies culminate in student performances held in the Cypress College theaters and recital hall. The Cypress College Art Gallery and the Edouard de Merlier Photography Gallery host annual student exhibitions at the end of every Spring semester, showcasing student work from the Art, Media Arts Design and Photography departments. The college also holds its Annual Film Festival every Spring semester which premieres short films made by Media Arts Design students.

Notable alumni