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History of education in California

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The History of education in California covers public and private schools and higher education since the colonial era.

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The 23 California State University campuses
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Colonial era

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In Alta California (that is, the Spanish and Mexican colony before 1848), the cultural was oral; outside the military written materials were rare.[1] In the Army, a prerequisite for promotion above the rank of corporal was literacy. The Spanish policy at the time, as a means of controlling their citizens, was to oppose popular education. The first school was opened in 1795 by a retired sergeant, in San Jose.[2][3] Small schools taught by retired soldiers operated from time to time. José Antonio Carrillo is one of the few school teachers known by name. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá (1815-1821) planned to use his own wealth to bring in two Spanish academics to establish a school in Monterey. After several weeks they concluded life in California as unbearable and left. In 1829, throughout Alta California, there were 339 students in 11 primary schools. A few small private schools operated. An example was one opened by Don Guillermo Arnel near present-day Salinas. For the last 20 years of Mexican administration the number of public schools ebbed and flowed. At times there were few schools operating due to a revolving lack of funds, lack of interest, politics, and lack of educators.[4]

Founded by Catholic sisters in 1851, Notre Dame High School, in San Jose, is the oldest high school in California. It only admitted women.

Early statehood

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In 1848 California was annexed from Mexico and become incorporated into the United States. Most of the 26,000 residents were Spanish and lived in Southern California. Perhaps two percent were literate.[5] The new American regime dropped the oral emphasis and stressed written documentation. Literacy was now an advantage, and the Californios (Hispanics) embraced literacy. Public and Catholic elementary schools were established and proved popular. Loyola High School, founded by Catholics in Los Angeles in 1856, is the oldest educational institution in Southern California. By 1910. three fourths of Hispanic men and two thirds of the women could read and write.[6]

In Northern California gold was discovered in 1848 and hundreds of thousands of miners from around the world poured in. They were young men who had left ther families behind and had little need for or interest in schools. Statehood came in 1850 and the new government was not opposed to schools. From 1854 onwards there was a small English language public education system present throughout the state. San Diego finally set up a public school in 1865, with a trained teacher from New England in charge. In 1866 42 students were enrolled studying primary level reading, writing, and arithmetic.[7][8]

Late 19th century

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Early 20th century

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Since 1945

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In World War II, three million soldiers and sailors from all parts of the country trained in 300 bases in California. Millions more came to work in the new war factories. Many spotted opportunity as the Los Angeles Times editorialized: "The story of the west’s great industrial future has spread over the nation and like the story of the discovery of gold, it is luring hopeful men whose dreams are spun of golden opportunity.".[9] By 1946 the depression was gone, the economy was booming and veterans now had the GI bill that paid them to finish high school or attend college, start a new business, and obtain an inexpensive home mortgage. Every year hundreds of thousands of young couples migrated to California as the population tripled from seven million in 1940 to twenty million in 1970.[10][11][12]

By the early 1950s their Baby Boom offspring were flooding the schools. The state's public school system was underbuilt, outdated, and hobbled by financial and administrative inefficiencies. Voter dissatisfaction led to the election of Max Rafferty, a staunch conservative, as state superintendent of public instruction in 1963 to 1971, while Pat Brown, a liberal Democrat, remained governor from 1959 to1967, This created highly visible ongoing conflicts between Rafferty and the California State Board of Education, chaired by liberal publisher Thomas W. Braden.[13][14]

The state’s school funding system was obsolete, with local property taxes nearing their limit and significant inequalities among districts. Although state funds helped poorer districts, school bond measures often failed due to California’s high two-thirds approval requirement. Calls for reform, including state-controlled tax assessments and school district consolidation, faced intense resistance. Corruption in tax assessments became evident in 1966 when officials in multiple counties were convicted of bribery. Despite challenges in public school administration, California successfully expanded its higher education system. It created the nation’s largest university network and developed an elaborate network of state and community colleges to accommodate surging student enrollment.[15][16][17]

Catholic schools

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Established by Catholics in 1851, Santa Clara University, in Santa Clara, is the oldest operating university in California.

Catholic education in California began shortly after statehood, led by international bodies of priests and sisters. Later the local diocese began opening schools, usually using teachers from orders of sisters, The first Catholic school was opened in Los Angeles in 1851 by the Sacred Hearts Fathers (Picpus Fathers). The Dominican Sisters operated schools for children of gold miners in Monterey in the 1850s. In Santa Barbara, an experiment in bilingual education in the public school frustrated both the Californios and the Anglos. Tensions were resolved in 1857 when the Catholic set up a parochial school that attracted the Spanish speaking students.[18]

San Francisco early on took leadership in the Catholic school movement, as seen in the careers of archbishops Joseph Sadoc Alemany, Patrick William Riordan and Edward Joseph Hanna. Hanna secured tax exemption for parochial schools.[19]

In 1958, California had 529 Catholic elementary schools with 222,000 students. There were 125 high schools with 49,600 students, and 14 colleges with 13,000 students. In each case, half were in the Los Angeles area, and a fourth in or near San Francisco.[20] By 2011, there were 562 elementary schools with 159,000 students; 116 high schools with 71,700; and 13 colleges with 47,400.[21]

In 2025 the Catholic colleges, include:

These schools provide a mix of traditional liberal arts education, theological studies, and professional programs. There are also several seminaries.[22]

Ethnic and racial minorities

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Latinos

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Mexican Americans have faced a long history of segregation in California schools, particularly in the early 20th century. While there were no explicit laws requiring segregation for Mexican students, local school districts often placed them in separate schools under the guise of "Americanization" programs. These schools emphasized vocational training rather than academic advancement, reinforcing social and economic barriers. Educators considered that the Mexican culture was less conducive to the more intellectual approaches used for Anglo students. Furthermore, most Mexican parents wanted their children protected from Anglo harassment.[23][24] The key legal challenge to this system was Mendez v. Westminster in 1947, where five Mexican American fathers successfully argued that school segregation was unconstitutional.[25] Following the ruling, Governor Earl Warren signed a law to repeal segregation in schools on June 14, 1947. This case set a precedent for the famous Brown v. Board of Education decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1954, which ultimately ended legal segregation nationwide.[26]

Beyond legal battles, Mexican American students also faced cultural discrimination, such as biased IQ tests used to justify segregation and social prejudices that framed them as a threat to public health and morality. [27] Over time, activism and legal victories helped dismantle these barriers, leading to greater educational access and integration.[28][29]

Asians

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Chinese men came in large numbers in the 1860s to work on the railroad. Most planned to make money then return to China. There were few women and very few children before 1900. Anti-Chinese sentiment was strong among the Anglo population and they would not tolerate any integrated public schools. The state supreme court in Tape v. Hurley said the city had to provide schools, so the result was segregated public schools. The government of China was to weak to play any role. Japan was another matter—it was a new powerhouse in Asia, had a military alliance with Britain, defeated Russia in a major war, and controlled Korea and part of China. There were 60,000 Japanese in Hawaii when it was annexed in 1898 and they could freely enter the mainland. Many Japanese farm families were immigrating permanently to California. In 1906 alone, 17,000 arrived, two-thirds from Hawaii. Tokyo was outraged when San Francisco imposed segregation on the 93 Japanese students in the city schools. President Roosevelt intervened and brokered the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907. It was a compromise by which Japan agreed not to send unskilled workers and the U.S. would not impose segregation.[30]

Higher education

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The New England emphasis on public education had an impact in the late 1850s as the Gold Rush frenzy faded. Several colleges were begun. In 1855, the private College of California was established. In 1868 the state acquired it and it became the University of California, Berkeley, the first campus of the University of California to be established.[31]

Teacher training

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Further information: California State Normal School

After a private normal school closed in San Francisco after only one year, politicians John Swett and Henry B. Janes sought to establish a normal school for San Francisco's public school system, and approached George W. Minns to be the principal for the nascent institution, with Swett as an assistant principal. It began operations in 1857 as the Minns Evening Normal School. In 1861, after its continued success was clear, superintendent Andrew J. Moulder worked to set up a state normal school. Minns Evening Normal School became the California State Normal School in 1862, and is today San Jose State University.[32]

University of California system

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Main article: University of California

The UC system was officially established in 1868, following the merger of the College of California with the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College. Over time, it expanded to accommodate California’s growing population and educational needs. The system is recognized for its research excellence, with multiple campuses ranked among the top universities globally. It now comprises 10 main campuses:[33]

  • UC Berkeley (1868) – The first UC campus.[34]
  • UC San Francisco (UCSF) (1873) – A graduate-only campus focused on a medical school and health sciences.
  • UC Davis (1905) – Originally an agricultural extension of UC Berkeley, it became a full-fledged campus in 1959.
  • UC Los Angeles (UCLA) (1919) – Started as a teacher’s college before expanding into a major research university.[35]
  • UC Santa Barbara (1944) – Transitioned from a teacher’s college to a research university.
  • UC Riverside (1954) – Originally a citrus research station, it evolved into a full university.
  • UC San Diego (1960) – Founded with a strong emphasis on science and technology.
  • UC Santa Cruz (1965) – Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education.
  • UC Irvine (1965) – Established to meet the growing demand for higher education in Los Angeles suburbs.[36][37]
  • UC Merced (2005) – The newest campus, created to serve the Central Valley region.

California State University

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Main article: California State University

The system now consists of 23 campuses and seven off-campus centers. Established in 1960 as part of the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the CSU system has its roots in the California State Normal Schools that were first chartered in 1857. The system began with the Minns Evening Normal School, founded in 1857 by George W. Minns in San Francisco. It was a normal school, an institution that educated future teachers in association with the high school system. It was taken over by the state in 1862 and moved to San Jose and renamed the California State Normal School; it eventually evolved into San Jose State University. Later, other state normal schools were founded at Los Angeles (1882), Chico (1887) and San Diego (1897). Total enrollment grew to 8,100 in 1935; it dropped to 7,900 in 1945, then it soared to 54,600 in 1955, 154,800 in 1965. In 2005 it enrolled 432,800 students, with about 23,000 staff, and 24,000 faculty, at which time it had over two million living alumni.[38]

California Community Colleges

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Main article: California Community Colleges

The 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education clarified the role of community colleges as open-access institutions, distinct from the University of California and California State University systems. The California Community Colleges system now includes 73 community college districts. They operate 116 accredited colleges. It is the largest system of higher education in the United States, and third largest system of higher education in the world, serving more than 1.8 million students.[39][40]

The system was originally designed by Professor Alexis F. Lange to make the freshman and sophomore course work more accessible, and allow university faculty to concentrate on advanced research. The expectation was the students would then move to a traditional college for years three and four and finally a BA degree. The 1907 Upward Extension Act allowed high schools to offer college-level coursework, enabling students to stay close to home and save money. However the new students had a different plan. Typically they were the first in their family to graduate from high school, and they wanted a better job now. Very few planned on two more years of study to get a BA degree.[41][42] [43]

The first junior college in California appeared in 1910, when the Fresno Board of Education opened the Collegiate Department of Fresno High School—later named Fresno City College. By 1917, California had sixteen junior colleges, the largest system of junior colleges in the world. The system grew rapidly, especially after World War II, responding to population booms and the educational needs of returning veterans.[44][45]

In 1947 President Truman's Commission on Higher Education for Democracy emphasized the change in mission from producing an intellectual elite to becoming “the means by which every citizen, youth, and adult, is enabled and encouraged” to pursue higher learning. The term "community college" now replaced "junior college," for the new institutions realized their role should not be to feed established four-year colleges, but rather to serve the community's current needs for more skilled workers.[46] A few, like Modesto Junior College founded in 1917, still use the original name. The mission continually expanded. They quickly began to focus more on vocational training, adult education, and community enrichment to meet local workforce needs and support economic development. To this day they play a key role in promoting social mobility, offering inexpensive local pathways for students from working class backgrounds to gain job skills. Communities large and small depend on them to prepare firefighters, police, mechanics, nurses and office workers for good jobs.[47]

Private colleges and universities

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Further information: Category:Private universities and colleges in California

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lisbeth Haas, Conquests and historical identities in California, 1769-1936 (U of California Press, 1995) pp.115-116.
  2. ^ William E. Smythe, "Schools and Education," in History of San Diego, 1542-1908 (1908) online another copy is online here
  3. ^ "County of Santa Clara Historic Context Statement" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  4. ^ J. Andrew Ewing, "Education in California during the pre-statehood period," Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California 11#1 (1918), pp. 51–59. JSTOR 41168759
  5. ^ Neal Harrow, "California Conquered: The Annexation of a Mexican Province, 1846-1850"; (U of California Press; 1989) pp.14-30.
  6. ^ Haas, pp. 119-120.
  7. ^ Nathan Fogerson, "Education on the Frontier: The Mason Street Schoolhouse" (California State Parks, 2021) online
  8. ^ William E. Smythe, "Schools and Education," in History of San Diego, 1542-1908 (1908) online another copy is online here
  9. ^ Los Angeles Times December 18, 1945.
  10. ^ Edward Staniford, The Pattern of California History (1975) pp.586–598 .
  11. ^ Margaret S Gordon, Employment Expansion and Population Growth: The California Experience, 1900–1950 (1954) pp.1–3.
  12. ^ T.H. Watkins, California an Illustrated History (1973) pp.449–460.
  13. ^ Walter Bean, California: An Interpretive History (1973) p.462.
  14. ^ Franklin Parker, Roots of the New Right: School Critic Max Rafferty (1917-82). (West Virginia University, 1985) online
  15. ^ Bean, California (1973) p.462.
  16. ^ Staniford, The Pattern of California History (1975) pp.619–622.
  17. ^ John B. Mockler, and Gerald Hayward, "School finance in California: Pre-Serrano to the present." Journal of Education Finance 3.4 (1978): 386–401.
  18. ^ Albert Camarillo, Chicanos in a Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblas to American Barrios in Santa Barbara and Southern California,1848–1930 (Harvard UP, 1979). p.17.
  19. ^ Richard Gribble, "Catholic Education in Progressive-Era San Francisco: Theory and Practice." American Catholic Studies (2009): 21-45. JSTOR 44195238
  20. ^ Felicia A. Foy, The 1959 National Catholic Almanac (1959) p. 470.
  21. ^ Matthew Bunson, Our Sunday Visitors Catholic Almanac 2012, (2012) p.535.
  22. ^ See also "2025 Best Catholic Colleges in California" online
  23. ^ Judith Rosenberg Rafteri, Land of Fair Promise: Politics and Reform in Los Angeles Schools,1885–1941 (Stanford UP, 1992) pp.110–159.
  24. ^ Ricardo Romo, History of a Barrio: East Los Angeles (University of Texas Press, 1983) pp.138–142.
  25. ^ "A History of Mexican Americans in California: Westminster School / Seventeenth Street School" ParkNet (2004) online from National Park Service
  26. ^ Francisco Macías, "Before Brown v. Board of Education There Was Méndez v. Westminster," In Custodia Legis. (The Library of Congress, May 16, 2014) online
  27. ^ Romo, History of a Barrio, pp.89-93, 139.
  28. ^ "New Book: Landmark Case Ended Biased IQ Tests" California Educator (October 15, 2019) online
  29. ^ Marty Glick and Maurice Jourdane, The Soledad Children: The Fight to End Discriminatory IQ Tests (2019) reviews
  30. ^ Raymond A. Esthus, Theodore Roosevelt and Japan (U of Washington Press, 1966) pp.128–229 online.
  31. ^ Verne A, Stadtman, The University of California, 1868-1968 (1970) pp. 1-34.
  32. ^ Morris Elmer Dailey, History of the State Normal School at San Jose (1902) online
  33. ^ Patricia A. Pelfrey, A brief history of the University of California (U of California Press, 2004). online pp 91–116.
  34. ^ Verne Stadtman, The University of California, 1868–1968 (1970) pp.21–49.
  35. ^ Marina Dundjerski, UCLA: The First Century (2012)
  36. ^ Sharon L Roan and John Westcott, UCI: Bright past, Brilliant Future (2015).
  37. ^ Ethan Schrum, "Social Science over Agriculture: Reimagining the Land-Grant Mission at the University of California-Irvine in the 1960s." in The land-grant colleges and the reshaping of American higher education (Routledge, 2017) pp.311–333.
  38. ^ Donald R. Gerth, The People's University: A History of the California State University (2010) pp. xxii, 5–9, 643.
  39. ^ Dorothy M. Knoell, "California community colleges." Community College Journal of Research and Practice 21.2 (1997): 121-136.
  40. ^ Board of Governors Archived 2007-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
  41. ^ George R. Boggs, and Lawrence A. Galizio, eds., A College for All Californians: A History of the California Community Colleges (Teachers College Press, 2021), pp.1-15.
  42. ^ George R. Boggs, "Democracy’s colleges: The evolution of the community college in America." (American Association of Community Colleges, 2010): 1-15. online
  43. ^ Leonard V. Koos, The Junior College Movement (1925) online pp.16–28.
  44. ^ Alban Elwell Reid, Jr. " A history of the California Public Junior College movement" (PhD Dissertation,  University of Southern California; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1966. 6607081).
  45. ^ "The Origin of California’s Community Colleges" online
  46. ^ George R. Boggs, "Democracy’s colleges: The evolution of the community college in America." (American Association of Community Colleges, 2010): 1-15. online
  47. ^ Richard M. Romano, and Pamela L. Eddy, "Community colleges and social mobility." Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 49.6 (2017): 55-62.

Further reading

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This article is part of a series on
Education in the
United States
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History
Curriculum topics
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Levels of education
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  • Benveniste, Guy, and Charles Benson. From mass to universal education: the experience of the state of California and its relevance to European education in the year 2000 (Springer Science & Business Media, 2012) online.
  • Cloud, Roy W. Education in California: Leaders, Organizations, and Accomplishments of the First Hundred Years (Stanford UP, 1952) online
  • Comm, Walter. " A historical analysis of vocational education: Land grant colleges to California junior colleges. 1862-1940" (PhD dissertation, U of Southern California; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1967. 6801185).
  • Ferrier, William Warren. Ninety Years of Education in California 1846-1936 (1937) online
  • Hendrick, Irving G. California education : a brief history (1980) online
  • Hendrick, Irving G., “From Indifference to Imperative Duty: Educating Children in Early California,” California History 79#2 (2000): 226–49;
  • James, Thomas. “State Politics and Educational Leadership in California: The Ebb and Flow of the Nineteenth Century.” The Pacific Historian 30#3 (fall 1986): 18-33.
  • Kelly, Matthew Gardner. "Schoolmaster's Empire: Race, Conquest, and the Centralization of Common Schooling in California, 1848–1879" History of Education Quarterly , (2016) 56#3 pp. 445–472, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hoeq.12198
  • Myers, James Edward. “The Educational Work of Andrew Jackson Moulder in the Development of Public Education in California, 1850-1895.” (PhD. diss., University of California; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1961. 0222484).
  • Polos, Nicholas C. "A Yankee Patriot: John Swett, the Horace Mann of the Pacific." History of Education Quarterly 4#1 (March 1964): 17-32. online
  • Swett, John. Public education in California: its origin and development, with personal reminiscences of half a century (1911) online; called the "Father of the California public school system"
  • West, Linda L. Meeting the challenge : a history of adult education in California from the beginnings to the 1990s (1995) online

Race and minorities

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  • Bennett, Stacie Victoria. "Schooling the Other: The Role of Education in Nineteenth-Century California" (PhD dissertation, University of California, Riverside, 2023) online.
  • Cameron, James William.  "The history of Mexican public education in Los Angeles, 1910-1930" (PhD dissertation, U of Southern California; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1976. DP28747.
  • Gifford, Bernard R., and Guadalupe Valdés. "The linguistic isolation of Hispanic students in California's public schools: The challenge of reintegration." Teachers College Record 108.14 (2006): 125-154. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681061080140
  • Hendrick, Irving G. “Federal Policy Affecting the Education of Indians in California, 1849-1934.” History of Education Quarterly 16#2 (1976), pp. 163–85. online
  • Hendrick, Irving G. "The Education of Non-Whites in California, 1849-1970." (ERIC, 1977). online
  • Higgins, Andrew Stone. Higher Education for All: Racial Inequality, Cold War Liberalism, and the California Master Plan (2023) summary
  • Jahng, Kyung Eun. "Rethinking the history of education for Asian-American children in California in the second half of the nineteenth century." in Race and Racism in Education (Routledge, 2022) pp. 147–164.
  • Kelly, Matthew Gardner. "Schoolmaster's Empire: Race, Conquest, and the Centralization of Common Schooling in California, 1848–1879" History of Education Quarterly (2016) 56(3), 445-472. doi:10.1111/hoeq.12198
  • Low, Victor, "The Chinese in the San Francisco public school system: an historical study of one minority group's response to educational discrimination, 1859-1959" (PhD dissertation, . University of San Francisco; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1981. 8117494).
  • MacDonald, Victoria-Maria, ed. Latino education in the United States: A narrated history from 1513–2000. (Palgrave, 2004)
  • Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich. "The work kids do: Mexican and Central American immigrant children's contributions to households and schools in California." Harvard Educational Review 71.3 (2001): 366-390. online
  • Romo, Ricardo. History of a Barrio: East Los Angeles (U of Texas Press, 1983)
  • Sanchez, George Joseph.  "Becoming Mexican-American: Ethnicity and acculturation in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1943" (PhD Dissertation,  Stanford University; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1989. 8925947), chapter 9.
  • Wollenberg, Charles. "Mendez v. Westminster: Race, nationality and segregation in California schools." California Historical Quarterly 53.4 (1974): 317-332.
  • Wollenberg, Charles M. All Deliberate Speed Segregation and Exclusion in California Schools, 1855-1975 (2020) covers Blacks, Indians, Hispanics and Asians.

Localities

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  • "History of the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles" in Archdiocese of Los Angeles Administrative Handbook (2025) part 1 online
  • Fuller, Bruce. When Schools Work: Pluralist Politics and Institutional Reform in Los Angeles (JHU Press, 2022), focus on liberal reformers in 1990s.
  • Groen, Mark Michael.  "Public schools and politics in the Gilded Age: The role of politics and policy in shaping public education and the growth of schools and schooling in San Bernardino County, California, 1867–1890" (PhD dissertation, U of California, Riverside; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  2002. 3053667).
  • Petricek, Gerald Anton. "Trends in parochial elementary schools in Santa Barbara County, California" (PhD dissertation,  Chapman University; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1969. EP29893).
  • Raftery, Judith Rosenberg. Land of Fair Promise: Politics and Reform in Los Angeles Schools, 1885–1941. (Stanford UP, 1992) online.

Higher education

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  • Boggs, George R., and Lawrence A. Galizio, eds., A College for All Californians: A History of the California Community Colleges (Teachers College Press, 2021) online
  • Douglass, John Aubrey. The California Idea and American Higher Education: 1850 to the 1960 Master Plan (Stanford University Press, 2000), a major scholarly history
    • Douglass, John Aubrey.   "Politics and policy in California higher education: 1850 to the 1960 Master Plan" (PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1992. 9237800). online
  • Douglass, John Aubrey. "Creating a fourth branch of state government: The University of California and the constitutional convention of 1879." History of Education Quarterly 32.1 (1992): 31-72.
  • Dumke, Glenn S. "Higher Education in California" California Historical Society Quarterly 42#2 (1963), pp. 99–110 online
  • Dundjerski, Marina. UCLA: The First Century (2012) guide to contents; a major scholarly history
  • Gerth, Donald R. The People's University: A History of the California State University (2010) online
  • Johnson, Dean C. (1996). The University of California: History and Achievements. Berkeley: University of California Printing Department.
  • Marginson, Simon (2016). The Dream Is Over: The Crisis of Clark Kerr's California Idea of Higher Education. University of California Press. doi:10.1525/luminos.17. ISBN 9780520966208.
  • Nilan, Roxanne L., and Cassius L. Kirk. Stanford's Wallace Sterling: Portrait of a Presidency 1949–1968 (Stanford Historical Society, 2023)
  • Pelfrey, Patricia A. A brief history of the University of California (Univ of California Press, 2004) online .
  • Reid, Alban Elwell, Jr. " A history of the California Public Junior College movement" (PhD Dissertation,  University of Southern California; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1966. 6607081).
  • Servin, Manuel P., and Iris Higbie Wilson. Southern California and Its University (1970) ; the standard history of the University of Southern California.
  • Stadtman, Verne A. (1970). The University of California 1868–1968. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.; The standard history of the University of California system, with emphasis on Berkeley.
  • Smelser, Neil J., and Gabriel A. Almond, eds. Public Higher Education in California (1974; reprint 2022) ISBN 9780520314337

Historiography

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  • Thelin, John R. "California and the Colleges" California Historical Quarterly (1977) 56#2 pp. 140–163 JSTOR 25157701 on collecting the unofficial history off the campus.
    • Thelin, John R. "California and the Colleges Part 2" California Historical Quarterly (1977) 56#3 pp. 230–249 JSTOR 25157723

Primary sources

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  • Kennedy, Donald. A Place in the Sun: A Memoir (Stanford University Libraries, 2017).
  • Kerr, Clark. The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967 (2 vol 2001, 2003)
  • MacDonald, Victoria-Maria, ed. Latino education in the United States: A narrated history from 1513–2000. (Palgrave, 2004); 50 short excerpts from. primary sources, most. from California and Texas.
  • Odo, Franklin. The Columbia Documentary History of the Asian American Experience (Columbia UP, 2002).
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