The college was founded as Glendale Junior College in 1927, to serve the Glendale Union High School District which at the time included La Crescenta, Glendale, and Tujunga. From 1927 to 1929 classes were held in the buildings of Glendale Union High School at Broadway and Verdugo in the City of Glendale. In 1929 the junior college moved to the Harvard School plant of the Glendale Union High School District where it remained until 1937. In this year a new plant, part of the present one, was completed and occupied. The year before, in 1936, the Glendale Junior College District was dissolved as such and became a part of the new Glendale Unified School District. The name of the school was changed to Glendale College in 1944. On July 1, 1970 Glendale College became a part of the Glendale Junior College District. On April 20, 1971 the Board of Education adopted a resolution changing the District name to Glendale Community College District. On November 3, 1980, Glendale voters approved a measure to establish separate Boards, with the new board taking office in April 1981. The separation resulted in the creation of a Board of Trustees solely responsible for the governance of the Glendale Community College District. In 1936, were acquired for the present site of the college. Glendale Community College inspired the NBC show Community which premiered in the fall season of 2009. The show uses the fictional setting of Greendale Community College; the show's creator, Dan Harmon, has stated that the show was actually based on his experience attending Glendale Community College. Harmon describes the series as "flawed characters and becoming unflawed by being in this place because it's been underestimated by the system around it."
Campus
The campus now consists of and 15 permanent buildings. It is located on the slopes of the San Rafael Hills overlooking the valleys in the Glendale area.
Organization and administration
The college president is Dr. David Viar.
Glendale Community College District
The Glendale Community College District is a constituent community college district of the California Community College System, whose only college is GCC. It is governed by a 5-member elected Board of Trustees, elected by geographical district effective in 2017. Pursuant to their authority, they have promulgated policies and administrative regulations for the administration of the district and GCC and serves Glendale and La Crescenta-Montrose. The elections for the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees is held at the same day the Glendale City Council and Glendale Unified School District Board of Education, which takes place on a first Tuesday after the first Monday in April of odd-numbered years. Effective with the March 2020 election, the elections are held on a first Tuesday after the first Monday.
The in-state tuition and fees for 2017-2018 were $1,175, and out-of-state tuition and fees were $6,335. The student-faculty ratio is 26-to-1. There is no application fee. Total enrollment of 14,598 as of fall 2017. Full-time 6,634 and part-time 7,964 students. More than 15,000 students enroll in credit courses and over 7,000 more enroll in non-credit courses. The school has an open admissions policy and offers credit for life experiences.
Marian Cleeves Diamond, Professor Emeritus of Anatomy & Neuroanatomy at University of California, Berkeley, taught at UCB for over 50 years; one of the founders of modern neuroscience
