Golden West College

URL: www.gwc.info/

Type of Institution: 2 Year College

The College
Located in the coastal community of Huntington Beach, in Southern California, Golden West College is part of the California Community College system and was founded in 1965. On 120 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, GWC serves 13,000 students and is considered a medium-size, two-year college. GWC provides an Associate degree in most subjects, a strong university transfer program, in addition to a wide variety of short-term vocational [Certificate] options-- offering over 60 major areas. It provides a safe and secure location, a multicultural environment, an active student body and is proud of its newly developed honors program. The college is highly regarded for academic quality and innovation. In its earliest years, the college was recognized for its pioneering leadership in designing learning-centered programs and services for its student body and continues in that tradition to this day.

Mission Statement
The mission of Golden West College is to support students' goals and interests in higher education, develop their employment skills, prepare them to be productive citizens, and respond to community needs by providing a range and variety of educational programs; two year degrees; transfer preparation; career and technical training, and remedial activities. We encourage all members of our learning communities to grow to their maximum potential as they contribute to the well-being of our diverse society.

Vision Statement
Golden West College is committed to excellence and endeavors to provide an optimum teaching and learning environment. This will be demonstrated by innovation which embraces demographic and technological changes.

Philosophy
Our educational philosophy is founded on ethical conduct and teamwork. To ensure institutional excellence, we continually challenge, test, reevaluate and raise our standards. As an educational organization, we have high expectations and believe that our success depends upon the combined capability and contribution of faculty, staff, students and members of our community.

At Golden West we value:
• Quality education
• Open access to education and opportunity for student success
• Diversity in our staff, students, and ideas
• Respect for our students , colleagues, campus and community
• Accountability in our fiscal, environmental and human resources
• Institutional integrity
• Service to our community