MiraCosta College

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large suburb.

Overview

MiraCosta College is a community college located in the northern coastal region of San Diego County, California, United States. It was founded in 1934 as Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College, with 122 students and 20 faculty members. The college also has a campus in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and a community learning center in Oceanside. It is approximately 35 miles north of San Diego and 90 miles south of Los Angeles.

MiraCosta College offers associate degrees equivalent to the first two years of a bachelor degree. It also offers more than 50 different certificates for students interested in short-term training in particular career areas. There are more than 30 student clubs and organizations on campus for the overall development of students. The International club assists foreign students with admission into the college.

The school offers a number of resources for students, including more than 1,000 networked computers; a Wellness Center at the Oceanside Campus; free tutoring for most subjects; Service Learning projects related to class studies (which involve more than 1000 students); Honors Scholars Program and an active national honor society. For students and staff with childcare needs, MiraCosta offers a Child Development Center on its Oceanside Campus.

Organized college activities include weekly “College Hour” events at noon, regular cultural events, and performing arts events featuring guest artists and students.

One popular area of study at MiraCosta is business. Programs include:

• Accounting - Courses cover theory and practice and are designed to help students as they transfer to pursue accounting majors, earn certificates, and improve skills needed in the workplace. Degree and certificate options include accounting, bookkeeping, accounting assistant, and income tax preparer. Career paths can include work in private and public sectors; tax preparation; finance; banking; business ownership; and management.
• Business Administration - Offers degrees and certificates in focus areas such as entrepreneurship, management, marketing, retail, and business fundamentals.
• Business Office Technology - Studies include degree and certificate options for office management, secretary/administrative assistant, medical transcription, virtual assistant, and more.

MiraCosta College's athletic teams compete in the Pacific Coast Conference. Their sports teams are nicknamed the Spartans. The school's intercollegiate sports include men's and women’s soccer, men’s and women's basketball and surfing. Its surf team has won several state and national titles.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in office and administration, beauty and cosmetology, real estate and construction management, landscaping and horticulture, drama and performing arts, family and social work, architecture and planning, media, liberal arts, and mechanics and repair.
• High faculty salary.
• Affordable tuition & fees.
• Large number of students.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Superior share of faculty on tenure track.

School characteristics:

• The school is public.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Associates Colleges.

Features of note:

• Open admission; accepts all qualified candidates.
• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Part-time classes are available.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to MiraCosta College:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 12,233 in 2009-2010 (8,794 full-time equivalent).

Undergrads are 100% of enrolled students.

Students under 25 years old represent 60% of the student body. About 14% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Room and Board

On-campus housing is not available.

Graduate School Focus

The highest degree offered is the Associate.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT (5 awarded)

• Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations
• Agricultural Production Operations
• Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (13 awarded)

• Architectural Technology/Technician
• Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES (0 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies
• Visual and Performing Arts

BEAUTY AND COSMETOLOGY (79 awarded)

• Cosmetology/Cosmetologist

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (105 awarded)

• Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping
• Business Administration and Management
• Business/Commerce
• E-Commerce/Electronic Commerce
• Retailing and Retail Operations
• Sales, Distribution, and Marketing Operations
• Small Business Administration/Management
• Taxation

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (4 awarded)

• Computer Programming/Programmer
• Computer Science
• Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications
• Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
• System Administration/Administrator
• Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design
• Web/Multimedia Management and Webmaster

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (0 awarded)

• Environmental Science

COOKING AND CULINARY ARTS (7 awarded)

• Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager

DESIGN (5 awarded)

• Graphic Design

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (6 awarded)

• Dance
• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
• Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (3 awarded)

• Education/Teaching Individuals - Early Childhood Spec Ed Pgms
• Health Teacher Education

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (16 awarded)

• Biomedical Technology/Technician
• Drafting and Design Technology/Technician
• Hazardous Materials Management and Waste Technology/Technician
• Mechanical Drafting and Mechanical Drafting CAD/CADD

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (80 awarded)

• Adult Development and Aging
• Child Care Provider/Assistant
• Child Care and Support Services Management
• Human Services
• Public Administration and Social Service Professions

HOSPITALITY (11 awarded)

• Hospitality Administration/Management
• Tourism and Travel Services Marketing Operations

LANDSCAPING AND HORTICULTURE (16 awarded)

• Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations
• Floriculture/Floristry Operations and Management
• Landscaping and Groundskeeping
• Plant Nursery Operations and Management
• Turf and Turfgrass Management

LAW (0 awarded)

• Legal Studies

LIBERAL ARTS (403 awarded)

• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Anthropology
• Area Studies
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies
• French Language and Literature
• Geography
• German Language and Literature
• History
• Humanities/Humanistic Studies
• Japanese Language and Literature
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Speech and Rhetorical Studies

MATHEMATICS (0 awarded)

• Mathematics

MECHANICS AND REPAIR (58 awarded)

• Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician

MEDIA (22 awarded)

• Animation, Interactive Tech, Video Graphics and Special Effects
• Photographic and Film/Video Technology/Technician and Assistant
• Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design
• Recording Arts Technology/Technician

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (0 awarded)

• Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (27 awarded)

• Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences
• Medical/Clinical Assistant
• Phlebotomy/Phlebotomist
• Surgical Technology/Technologist

MEDICINE (0 awarded)

• Health/Medical Preparatory Programs

MUSIC (1 awarded)

• Music

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (140 awarded)

• Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training
• Nurse/Nursing Assistant/Aide and Patient Care Assistant
• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (1 awarded)

• Health and Physical Education
• Sport and Fitness Administration/Management

OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATION (53 awarded)

• Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science
• Data Entry/Microcomputer Applications
• Office Management and Supervision

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (24 awarded)

• Real Estate

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (0 awarded)

• Philosophy

SCIENCE (1 awarded)

• Astronomy
• Biological and Physical Sciences
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Geology/Earth Science
• Physical Sciences
• Physics

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (10 awarded)

• Criminal Justice/Police Science

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (9 awarded)

• Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage
• Physical Therapist Assistant
• Psychology