El Camino Community College District (ECC) Introduction and Academics

Introduction

The El Camino Community College District was originally established in 1946 as a two year college in the Inglewood/South Bay area. The governing boards of the Centinela Valley, Redondo, Inglewood and El Segundo districts won a voter approval for the foundation of a junior college. Soon after its inception, Torrance joined the chartered group, and the College District was officially formed on July 1, 1947.

El Camino means "The Road” in Spanish. Today, the school stands as ‘The Road to Success’ for students from the cities of El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Lawndale, Hawthorne, Lennox and Inglewood.

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Information Summary

Ranks 128th in California and 1848th overall. See the entire top 2,000 colleges and universities list
Overall Score (about)	66.3
Total Cost On-Campus Attendance	$3,064
Admission Success rate	N/A
Student Ratio Students-to-Faculty	23 : 1
Retention (full-time / part-time)	78% / 50%
Enrollment Total (all students)	24,820

Academics

El Camino Community College District, also referred as Elco or ECC, is a two year public community college situated partly in the area of Alondra Park and partly in Torrance, California, United States. The campus site is composed of more than 35 buildings spread across an area of 26 acres. The academic programs offered at the college are accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

The college is governed by the five members of El Camino Community College District Board of Trustees. Each member is elected by voters for a four-year term, in the five trustee areas that compose the college district. Board meetings of the trustees are held monthly and are open to the public.

From faculty strength of 30 members during its foundation years, ECC has now grown to over 800 full-time and part-time instructors. Approximately 20 percent of the full-time faculty strength holds a doctoral degree, while more than 85 percent has a master’s degree. They are known for their outstanding credentials in their fields of expertise.

Each year, the college boasts an enrollment of nearly 27,000 students, and the curriculum includes not only lower division courses but also an honors program and several vocational programs. 2,500 different classes are offered to the students. Furthermore, students can choose from more than 850 academic and career programs including undergraduate, vocational, and honors courses, many available in online and televised formats for the distance education.

The school recognized for its program in English as a Second Language (ESL), which lays emphasis on a strong academic approach to train students for college. It helps to enhance the reading, writing, listening, and speaking capabilities of the students.

The school’s program in forensics has been awarded for excellence in the national level for a number of years, at times excelling over renowned four-year universities such as Notre Dame and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Academic Divisions:

Elco is composed of eight academic divisions: Business, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Fine Arts, Health Sciences & Athletics, Industry and Technology, Humanities, Mathematical Sciences, and Natural Sciences.

Students can take advantage of free tutoring services in more than 25 different subject areas, which is available each semester. The registered students can meet with faculty members at the Learning Resource Center in the West Wing, and seek tutoring services.

ECC Online:

Online degree courses are extended to the students who cannot attend regular college. These students opt for the distance education programs offered. Students can choose from a wide variety of online courses available in diverse areas of study such as english, economics, business, anthropology, computer information systems, history, law, music, theatre, philosophy and psychology.

The online courses offered are fully accredited, and they offer the same high quality of education as the traditional classes. The course content, course credit, registration process and cost per unit is equivalent to the regular courses held on campus. Many of the online courses require an orientation meeting on campus between students and faculty members before commencement.

Most Popular Fields of Study

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Admissions

ECC welcomes high school students seeking higher education as well as international students wishing to pursue college life in the United States.

The college ranks in the top 10 in California for sending students to the UC and CSU systems; and offers over 80 highly acclaimed career programs. If you are a concurrent enrollment student, you must submit an online application and complete a K-12 concurrent enrollment form before registering for classes.

Each year the International Student Program enrolls hundreds of students from over 65 different countries including Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. International students must to show proof of their English ability before being admitted to the school. Students can either take the TOEFL test, or complete an ESL program at a school with which ECC has a transfer agreement. This agreement is known as the “TOEFL Waiver”.

Many students come here to earn an Associate of Arts (A.A) or an Associate Science (A.S.) degree and then transfer to a four-year university California to complete their bachelor’s degree.

Financial Aid

The administration, board of trustees, faculty and staff of El Camino Community College District are committed to improving their services and offering financial aid to students in need of it in the form of grant and scholarships, work-study programs and loans. Students seeking financial aid must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online.

Federal aid is offered by the U.S. Department of Education, and is the principal source of financial support for students who need monetary help. State aid is offered by the state in which the institute is situated. Institutional aid is offered by the school’s own financial aid and scholarship offices. Private aid is the kind support offered by the local organizations and civic clubs. Some of the most common sources of financial aid for the community college students are:

Federal Pell grants
Cal grants (offered by the state of California)
The Board of Governor’s Fee Waiver (offered by the state of California)
The Academic Competitiveness Grant
The Chafee Grant (offered by the state of California)
Work Study Programs & Scholarships
Student loans

Student Financial Aid Details

Secrets to getting the best scholarships and financial aid in California.

Students

The student body boasts a diverse mix of domestic and international students. The campus is home to several organizations and clubs that bring the students together to meet, discuss and share ideas. Students can join an existing club of their interest or come together to form a new club. ECC’s Inter-Club Council (ICC) is made of one representative from each club on campus. ICC organizes events such as Red Cross Blood Drive and Spring Games.

Some of the popular student clubs are Beta Phi Gamma (Journalism), Chorale Club (Singing), Clay Club (Ceramics), Concert Choir Club (Singing), Contemporary Theater Club, African American Students Society, Italian Club, Muslim Students Association, Native American Club, Anthropology Club, Architecture Club and ECC College Republicans.

The Student Health Center is located next to the pool and it takes care of the overall health of students. It organizes several events from time to time such as Managing Anxiety Workshop, Anger Management Workshop, Understanding Depression Workshop, and Test Anxiety Workshop.

Student Services Center offers counseling to the students, and offers individual career counseling appointments, career assessments, career development tours, class presentations, eureka orientations, specific major workshops, career orientations, career information workshops, online career assessments, human development, online career information, internship/ career fair, majors fair and guest speakers.

The college also supports students looking for an entry level career position, part-time, full time, or a temporary seasonal job to support their education costs. Students can access the several employment opportunities offered by ECC, using their MyECC login.

Media and Publications:

‘The Union’ is the college newspaper, run by students and sponsored by the Auxiliary Services Board. The newspaper provides all the important updates regarding the college news, sports, arts, opinions and other features. The college also owns the KECC radio station, which first went on the air experimentally on April 27, 1994.

El Camino College has been in the limelight for several reasons. It has been used as a shooting location for movies since 1970s. Some of the movies that were shot here include Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 remake), The Longest Yard (2005 remake), BET’s reality show, and Baldwin Hills. The campus was also used as a filming location for the 1980s HBO series, regarding a proficient football team.

Campus Facilities:

The campus boasts wireless network access with their WiFi technology. Students seeking extra help in studies can opt for free tutoring services offered at the Learning Resource Center on campus. Library Media Technology Center (LMTC) is the main computer lab area situated close to the library.

Schauerman Library is located at the school and has more than 100,000 volumes and hundreds of newspapers and periodicals. This makes the campus a rich research center. The reference materials are grouped throughout the facilities for easy use. The library also features study rooms, where students can spend time reading books from the library.

Student Enrollment Demographics

Athletics

Elco has men’s and women’s teams in more than twenty intercollegiate sports such as badminton, baseball, football, golf, basketball, softball, cross country, soccer, tennis, volleyball and polo. The sports teams are nicknamed as the Warriors the school colors are blue and gray.

The teams are members of California Community College Athletic Association, South Coast Conference, National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Athletic Trainers Association, and California Community College Atheltic Trainers Association.

Murdock Stadium, built in 1958 hosts some of the most popular athletic programs. There is also a state-of-art fitness center open to students, faculty and staff. El Camino College also offers an assortment of successful youth camps and clinics during the summer.

Alumni

The school’s graduates have earned a name and reputation for themselves in different fields. Some of the notable alumni are George Brett, Hall of Fame Major League third baseman; Fred Claire, General Manager of Los Angeles Dodgers; Don Dulay, Professional Basketball Player; George Foster, Major League outfielder; Therese Murray, President of the Massachusetts Senate; Douglas Trumbull, Filmmaker and Special Effects Expert; and Therese Murray, President of the Massachusetts Senate.

Additional School Information

The college also hosts CalWORKs, a community portion of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act. The CalWORKs funds aid single parents receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

CalWORKs Career Ladder Programs and Services support the eligible students to get their educational degrees while gaining work experience to improve their job prospects.

El Camino Community College District