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MiraCosta College History
 In 1932, when a furnished house in Oceanside rented for around $13 a month and hamburger sold for 10 cents a pound, talk of establishing a community college in North County started. Two years later, MiraCosta was founded and began offering classes in one wing of Oceanside High School. Known then as the Oceanside - Carlsbad Junior College Department of the Oceanside High School District, the college offered 16 courses which were accepted as credit toward advanced standing at the University of California; 122 students enrolled. It was the second community college to be established in San Diego County. The 1935-36 catalog listed just 20 faculty members. Their salaries ranged from $1,600 annually for a first-year teacher to $2,270 for a teacher with eight years of experience.
 By 1959, Oceanside - Carlsbad Junior College was prepared to accommodate 500 full time students in classrooms on 30 acres separate from Oceanside High School. Although this was a welcome expansion, the increased enrollment was putting a squeeze on the high school and in 1960, voters approved a separate community college district as well as a bond issue to provide funding for a new campus.
The college moved to its present 121-acre hilltop location in 1964 and was renamed MiraCosta (Spanish for "behold the coast") College, referring to the panoramic ocean and coastal mountain views from the campus. The property - purchased for $575,000 - was part of a parcel owned by renowned ice skater Sonja Henie.
 At the request of the Oceanside and Carlsbad Unified School District boards of trustees, MiraCosta in 1972 agreed to take over the adult education programs, including adult high school education, English as a second language, citizenship, and a variety of enrichment courses.
 The district expanded in 1976 to include all of the North County coastal communities, and by 1978 enrollment had grown to more than 7,000 credit students. That year, MiraCosta rented a vacant elementary school in Del Mar where it began serving students who lived in the southern portion of the district; 1,034 credit students enrolled the first semester. Not long after, MiraCosta purchased a 48-acre site near the San Elijo Lagoon in Cardiff, and in 1988, the San Elijo Campus Campus opened to 2,500 credit students.
MiraCosta's Adult Learning Center opened in 1992 at a newly remodeled site on Horne Street. The center relocated to its current Mission Avenue location in 2000 and was renamed the Community Learning Center. Over the years the center has expanded its adult education offerings to include parenting classes, workshops for older adults, and programs for those who are physically and mentally challenged. The Cisco Academy, which offers training in computer networking, is also housed at the center. The college's Small Business Development Center is right next door.
 MiraCosta's campuses continue to change and grow. Projects to be completed during the next few years include a creative arts complex, horticulture laboratory and greenhouse, student services expansion, and lecture building on the Oceanside Campus; and a new student center on the San Elijo Campus.
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