OAKLAND, Calif., May 6, 2022 – As the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) plans for the next fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2022, we want to provide an update on our current financial status. 

“Substantial Progress” in All Areas Leads to Reclassification by ACCJC

OAKLAND, Calif., January 27, 2022  -- The Peralta Community College District (PCCD) today learned that Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College have received upgraded accreditation status by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

The Peralta Community College District is pleased to announce that Interim Chancellor Dr. Jannett N. Jackson has named Dr. Stephanie Droker as Interim Deputy Chancellor and Chief Operating officer. Her term will begin on January 10, 2022. Dr. Droker brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education and accreditation to this leadership position.

Educators from peer institutions across the Western Association of Schools and Colleges conducted virtual site visits of the Peralta Community College District and the four colleges last week, March 1-4. These peer reviews were conducted on behalf of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and were part of an accreditation process that included the Special Reports we submitted last November and the Institutional Self Evaluation Reports (ISERs) submitted in December 2020.  The visits went well. We’re writing to share with you some preliminary good news that we received during the accreditation site visits last week.  

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) is visiting (virtually) the Peralta Community College District on December 16 and 17 to follow up on our Colleges’ accreditation submittals, specifically the Special Reports submitted on November 1, 2020.   

While the Colleges remain fully accredited during a probationary period announced by ACCJC in January 2020, we are pleased to report that the District and Colleges are making progress on removing that probationary status.   
 
As you may recall, the probationary status was not about academics or education, but solely about finances and organizational matters.  

The ACCJC required the Colleges to provide additional evidence of financial improvement. That is exactly what College of Alameda, Berkeley City, Laney and Merritt Colleges have done, and we believe the reported results are excellent.   
 
We are confident the colleges have addressed the ACCJC concerns and have demonstrated each campus meets the requirements to be removed from probationary status.  
 
Each of the four Colleges reported growing enrollments and services to students through online winter and spring intersession offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the campuses successfully conducted marketing and outreach campaigns to potential students seeking online instruction in California State University and University of California-transferable courses.   
 
All of the four Colleges noted increases in their individual “Dual Enrollment Programs,” which offers high school students an early start on their career technical education and opportunities to earn units toward their college degree.
 
The Colleges partner with high schools in Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda to promote educational equity by offering empowering, transformative educational experiences to local high school students.  
 
By increasing the Colleges’ offerings to high schools these new enrollments hopefully mean these students will have already begun their college experience by the time they graduate high school, giving them both a head start in college as well as saving them money.  

All four of the Peralta Colleges are fully accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and remain so during a probationary period that began in January 2020.  We are pleased to report that the colleges of Peralta Community College District are making progress on removing their probationary status.