The California Community Colleges (CCC) play vital and diverse roles in the state’s public higher education system.

In 1960, California’s Master Plan for Higher Education promised publicly subsidized higher education to every Californian willing and able to benefit from it. But the Master Plan also limited enrollment in the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems. Students graduating in the top one-eighth of each year’s high school class are eligible to attend a UC campus, and those in the top one-third are eligible for CSU. The community colleges are responsible for meeting the remaining demand for public postsecondary education.