History of Laney College
College District, was the OUSD’s attempt to modernize its educational offerings.
The flagship of the Peralta Community College District, Laney College stretches across sixty acres in the center of resurgent downtown Oakland.
Now in its fourth decade, the Peralta Community College District remains true to Oakland Unified’s original commitment to service. Even more, Peralta has evolved into a first-rate academic institution and a tremendous educational resource for people of all ages, interests, and backgrounds.
Since 1970, when classes first met at its current location, Laney College has stood alongside the Oakland Museum of California and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, just a few blocks from Lake Merritt. Bay Area Rapid Transit and AC Transit provide convenient transportation to the college and the surrounding public facilities. Joseph C. Laney and the Development of Vocational Education in Oakland The college takes its name from Joseph C. Laney (1880-1948), a journalist, businessman, and former president of the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education. In honor of its former president’s major contributions to the city’s vocational education programs, the Board created the Joseph C. Laney Trade and Technical Institute in 1953. Now serving a student body of almost 13,000, Laney College is the largest of the four Peralta campuses. Laney offers associate’s degrees in more than twenty liberal arts and science fields, and a significant number of its graduates go on to four-year schools, including campuses in the University of California and California State University systems, local and out-of-state independent institutions, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition to its commitment to academics, Laney continues to make vocational training and career development critical parts of its mission, offering a wide variety of certificate programs and short-term courses. Laney College and the Four-college District to Which It Belongs When it created the city’s first public trade school in 1915, the Oakland Unified School District held that “the modern school system should serve the needs of all the children of all the people.” Oakland’s Vocational High School, perhaps the first recognizable ancestor of the Peralta Community
Long-time East Bay residents remember the PartTime School and Central Trade and Technical Institute. It was not until July 1953, however, that the Oakland Board of Education began to shape its higher-education facilities into what, in retrospect, appear to be clear antecedents of the modern Peralta schools: Oakland Junior College was founded, with Laney set up as its vocational campus, and Merritt as its business campus. A year later Merritt added a liberal arts division, and by 1955 it began granting associate’s degrees. Laney and Merritt soon became known collectively as Oakland City College. The residents of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont voted in November 1963 to join with Oakland to establish a separate junior college system, and the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) was officially formed on July 1, 1964. Taking its name from Luis Maria Peralta, the Spanish military man to whom the 44,800 acres on which the six cities of the modern district lie were granted in August 1820, the Peralta Community College District determined to make each of its campuses a comprehensive college, offering vocational, occupational, and liberal arts courses. The district’s principles are neatly expressed in its mission statement: The mission of the Peralta Community College District is to provide accessible, high-quality adult learning opportunities to meet the educational needs of the multicultural East Bay community. While the language and emphasis of the district’s mission statements have changed over the course of the last century, the ideals they point to remain constant. Throughout its history, Peralta has dedicated itself to creating opportunities for the
Laney College
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