History

Overview

It all began in the shoe department. Passersby gawked through the large display windows where mannequins had been replaced by live keypunch operators. Coat racks and cash registers made way for school desks and lecture podiums as Maricopa Technical College began to build a name for itself in 1968. Student orientation was held in a nearby movie theater.

In 1987, the name changed to GateWay Community College to better convey the comprehensive curricular offerings of the College and to reflect the physical location change to 40th and Washington Streets in the GateWay corridor.

Growth

Our course offerings have grown to include more than 125 degree, certificate and work force training options in a wide variety of industries, allowing us to emerge as a leading institution in meeting the needs of business and industry throughout our community.

We now enroll more than 16,000 students annually. We strive to continuously provide a high quality of education with support from student service areas and career training through innovation and state-of-the-art technology.

Programs designed to reach out to the community include GateWay Community High School, the Johnson Controls Institute, workforce development partnerships, healthcare and nursing continuing education and proactive ties with neighborhood schools, utilizing service-learning and other volunteer activities.

As we continue to address the needs of the healthcare and technology industries, our general education programs are growing by leaps and bounds.