This has been a banner year for Irvine Valley College. In August, the personal finance website WalletHub ranked it first among California’s 116 community colleges and sixth in the nation, based on factors that include cost, student-faculty ratio, graduation rate and hiring success. In September, the school announced it had reached a record enrollment of 15,848 students.

“We take great pride in always being faithful to our mission, which is our students’ success,” says IVC President John Hernandez.

Started in 1979 as a satellite campus of Saddleback College and accredited as a stand-alone school in 1985, IVC today is known for its small-college feel, combined with the county’s highest transfer rates to UC schools.

IVC students can obtain two-year associate degrees in more than 70 majors, including liberal arts, business, social sciences and technology. They can aim to transfer to a four-year college or train for a job by earning a certificate in one of 60 career and technical programs.

“We take great pride in always being faithful to our mission, which is our students’ success.”
– IVC President John Hernandez

IVC’s partnerships with four-year universities help speed students’ paths to careers in pharmacy, law and engineering. The UC Irvine-IVC Engineering Academy, for instance, provides guaranteed admission into UCI’s Samueli School of Engineering for those who finish the program.

The college also offers after-school and summer college-credit classes for public high school students, 3,000 of whom took advantage of the classes over the past year.

Twin sisters Vaishu and Vrushu Kagita did exactly that and subsequently enrolled at IVC.

They chose the school for its excellent data-science program, its modern campus and the ease it provides in transferring to a four-year college. As members of the honors program, they’re guaranteed enrollment in a UC school next year.

Twins Vaishu and Vrushu Kagita are leaders in the Girls Who Code Club at IVC.

A caring culture

Accolades are nothing new for IVC, which is ranked third among 50 top community colleges by Intelligent.com and first among the most popular state community colleges by BestColleges.com.

Hernandez says the key to IVC’s success includes excellent instructors, “a lot of super-talented students” and a “culture of care” – an ethos of working to create a welcoming and easy-to-navigate environment. That extends from the counseling services to the flexibility of online or in-person classes to even the practice of employees wearing name tags to offer help to newcomers.

Vaishu and her sister, both data-science majors, have collaborated on the Girls Who Code Club, where Vaishu is president and Vrushu is secretary.

“I chose a community college so I could focus and work hard, and it has worked well,” Vaishu says. “After graduation, I know I want to work in tech, but I’m honestly open to any job. … I’d also love to stay and work in OC/Irvine because I love the area so much.”