Why Choose Foothill?
With many higher education options available, what makes Foothill stand out as a top choice for students in the Bay Area? Foothill’s reputation for excellence has been earned by its success in preparing students to transfer, in preparing them to enter a variety of top careers and in offering professional training and lifelong learning opportunities to its community.
High Quality Sets Us Apart
Students choose Foothill because of the outstanding opportunities available to them, the dynamic faculty and staff and the many support services designed to help them succeed. Foothill’s uniqueness is exemplified by the college’s award winning architecture and its picturesque hillside location.
Since its founding when Time Magazine referred to the campus as a “a mountaintop among U.S. junior colleges,” Foothill has set a high standard in community college education by defining excellence in terms of quality, integrity and the success of its students. Today, Foothill continues that tradition of excellence by offering students a high quality general education curriculum, high-demand career programs, support services and state-of-the-art facilities. Foothill career program graduates score in the top 90th percentile on nation-wide skill examinations and students who gain our associates degrees increase their earning power by 40 percent just three years after graduation. Foothill students transfer to UC campuses like Berkeley and UCLA, to CSU campuses such as San Jose State, San Francisco State and San Louis Obispo and to a variety of private universities including Stanford, Santa Clara, USC, Cornell, The University of San Francisco, and many others.
Innovation in Academic Programs
Foothill strives for distinctiveness and innovation through its leadership in academic programs. Foothill was the first California community college to offer instruction via the Internet and now offers more online classes than any other Bay Area community college (see A History of Online Instruction for more info).
Excellence in Facilities
With the Passage of Measure E in 1999, a $248-million general obligation bond for facilities renovation and construction in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, Foothill is poised to meet the needs of the Silicon Valley far into the future. Our campus is undergoing a comprehensive renovation to update and preserve its original facilities and create new buildings to serve the needs of coming generations. Check our Measure E updates from the homepage for ongoing news.
Our Vision, Values and Mission
Students attending our college achieve their goals because relevant instruction occurs in an engaging, stimulating, inclusive manner, and any support service they need is provided. Students feel accepted as part of the Foothill family and realize they made the right choice in choosing Foothill to further their education and personal development.
The vision for Foothill College is built on the following core values, purpose and mission.
- Our core values are honesty, integrity, trust, openness and forgiveness.
- Our purpose is to provide educational opportunity for all with innovation and distinction.
- Our mission is to provide lower division academic instruction, career programs, and continuous workforce improvement to advance California's economic growth and global competitiveness.
Diversity
We value the incredible diversity of students on our campus and continually work to meet the needs of this entire population. Our faculty, staff and administrators believe that teaching a multicultural perspective is just as important as teaching reading, writing and technology in today’s world.
Foothill Highlights
