West Valley College

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large suburb.

Overview

West Valley College, as known as WVC, is a public, Community College located California, United States. It was established in 1963. It is located on the west side of Silicon Valley, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, 50 miles south of San Francisco. The campus is spread across an area of more than 140 acres.

West Valley College offers more than 15 dynamic career programs, professional certificates, and degree programs with exceptional preparation for transfer to four-year colleges and universities. WVC provides flexible course options including online and distance learning. It also offers many levels of support such as educational planning, financial assistance, personal counseling, child care, and learning skills programs.

Some notable alumni of the college are Doug Capilla, Major League Baseball player; H. Paul Shuch, SETI scientist; and Cung Le, ELITE XC fighter.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in liberal arts, nutrition and exercise therapy, law, and design.
• Affordable tuition & fees.
• Large number of students.
• Many mature (40+ year old) students.
• High faculty salary.
• 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.
• Distance learning is available.
• Weekend study is an option.
• Part-time classes are available.

Tuition and Financial Aid (2009-2010)

Financial Aid

West Valley College participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

In 2009-2010, 27% of students received financial aid of some sort.

(Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.)

Similar Schools

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

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 11,762 in 2009-2010 (10,031 full-time equivalent).

Undergrads are 100% of enrolled students.

Students under 25 years old represent 53% of the student body. About 23% 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)

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (7 awarded)

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

ART STUDIES (5 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies
• Visual and Performing Arts

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (53 awarded)

• Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping
• Business Administration and Management
• Business, Management, Marketing & Related Support Services
• Business/Commerce
• E-Commerce/Electronic Commerce
• Retailing and Retail Operations
• Sales, Distribution, and Marketing Operations
• Selling Skills and Sales Operations
• Small Business Administration/Management

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (2 awarded)

• Computer Programming/Programmer
• Computer Science
• Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications
• Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design
• Web/Multimedia Management and Webmaster

CONSTRUCTION TRADES (6 awarded)

• Apparel and Textile Manufacture

DESIGN (56 awarded)

• Fashion/Apparel Design
• Interior Design

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (1 awarded)

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

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (0 awarded)

• Education/Teaching Individuals - Early Childhood Spec Ed Pgms

ENGINEERING (2 awarded)

• Engineering

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (10 awarded)

• Drafting and Design Technology/Technician

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (9 awarded)

• Child Care Provider/Assistant
• Child Care and Support Services Management

LAW (28 awarded)

• Court Reporting/Court Reporter
• Legal Administrative Assistant/Secretary
• Legal Assistant/Paralegal

LIBERAL ARTS (474 awarded)

• Anthropology
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies
• French Language and Literature
• Geography
• History
• Humanities/Humanistic Studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Speech and Rhetorical Studies
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (4 awarded)

• Mathematics

MECHANICS AND REPAIR (0 awarded)

• Communications Systems Installation and Repair Technology

MEDIA (11 awarded)

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

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (0 awarded)

• Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (17 awarded)

• Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science and Allied Professions
• Medical/Clinical Assistant

MUSIC (2 awarded)

• Music

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (17 awarded)

• Health and Physical Education
• Parks, Recreation and Leisure Facilities Management

OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATION (3 awarded)

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

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (2 awarded)

• Cinematography and Film/Video Production
• Film/Cinema Studies
• Photography

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (0 awarded)

• Real Estate

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (0 awarded)

• Philosophy

SCIENCE (17 awarded)

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

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (18 awarded)

• Criminal Justice/Police Science

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (15 awarded)

• Massage Therapy/Therapeutic Massage
• Psychology