Predominantly Black Compton Community College Drops Accreditation Appeal: Two-Year College to Merge With Nearby Institution

In June 2005 the Western Association of Colleges and Schools’ Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges stripped Compton Community College of its accreditation. The loss of accreditation is usually a deathblow to an educational institution because students at the school are no longer eligible for any kind of federal financial aid. Compton College, where blacks and Latinos make up almost all of the students, retained its academic standing pending appeal.

But the college has decided to throw in the towel and drop the appeal. The college will now be merged with El Camino Community College in Torrance, California. Blacks are now 19 percent of the 25,000-member student body at El Camino Community College.

The Compton campus will be maintained and operated as a satellite facility of El Camino. Students will receive two-year associate’s degrees bearing the name of El Camino Community College. The state hopes that within eight years Compton will be able to regain accreditation on its own and once again become a separate institution.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.