Help us celebrate College of Alameda's 50th anniversary!

Since 1970 College of Alameda has held classes on its expansive 62-acre campus at the intersection of Webster Street and Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway in the beautiful City Island of Alameda.

College of Alameda has helped tens of thousands of Alamedans, as well as students from around the world, with their college education during the past 50 years. Join us and celebrate our history and learn about our exciting vision for the next 50 years!

During a year marked by incredible challenges, CoA is grateful to have a reason to celebrate - and invites you to join in on the fun in a variety of ways:

Did you know that as part of a CoA library subscription, Peralta students, faculty, and staff can access the New York Times for free?

Recognizing that a website is the front door to an institution, Merritt College has partnered with Lyra Design to improve the functionality and aesthetics of the college’s online presence. Lyra is the creative force behind the Merritt Cybersecurity website, so they will be building on a track record of success!

Merritt had several different companies submit proposals and also administered surveys and solicited feedback from the members of the Merritt Technology Committee and the Career Education. Mark Johnson, the Peralta District’s Executive Director of Marketing, Communication and Public Relations, played a critical role in helping Merritt identify potential partnerships as well. The college looks forward to unveiling a beautiful new website in early 2021, and thanks the Board of Trustees for supporting this important project.

Berkeley City College just announced that it has selected student Yanelit Madriz Zarate as this year's awardee of a $750 California Community College EOPS Association (CCCEOPSA) scholarship. A first generation Chicana student who is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Zarate was selected as this year's recipient due to her outstanding commitment not only to her studies, but to her community.

The College of Alameda has just welcomed new Financial Aid Director Angie Harris, an experienced higher education professional with nearly 20 years of experience. An Oakland native, Harris received her K-12 education with the Oakland Unified School District before attending UC Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. in Rhetoric. She continued her education at Cal State East Bay, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

How do you offer mental health support and therapy during a pandemic? You have to pivot!

While traditional ways of doing therapy have shifted, the Berkeley City College Wellness Center is offering mental health services to students via Zoom. BCC is fortunate to have a four mental health providers, three trainees, and a licensed supervisor, a team that is committed to being in service to our most vulnerable students. 

Since late spring semester when CoA received its first shipment of Chromebooks, the library staff and faculty have been working with the administration to check out computers for student use. At the start of the fall semester CoA’s library was the first in the district to roll out curbside distribution of library resources. Staff are coming in 3 days a week and have checked out nearly 100 Chromebooks to students so far.

The summer of 2020 brought renewed attention to the violence continually perpetrated against the BIPOC communities in the United States. In response to the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, the California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley challenged every college in the system to take action against structural racism through his detailed Call to Action. And the Peralta Community College District has taken this call seriously.

Laney College, as a member of the third statewide cohort of the Program Mapper Project —a partnership between software developer Concentric Sky, the California Community College Chancellors Office and Laney College – completed its commitment this summer to create and publish program maps on its website.