Southwestern College (California)

Southwestern College is a public community college in Chula Vista, California founded in 1961. It is part of the Southwestern Community College District, itself a part of the California Community Colleges, and has an enrollment of 25,228 as of 2023 across all its campuses within San Diego County. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

History
The school opened as Southwestern Junior College in 1961 with William Kepley as its president. The dean of admissions was Saxon Wright. The Chula Vista Star-News reported 15 students had registered within the first half hour the dean of admission's office was open, with Oliver Pittenger, a graduate of the nearby Chula Vista High School being the first person to enroll.

In 2022-2023, enrollment exceeded 25,000 students across all campuses.

Academics
The campus is a feeder school for students hoping to transfer to the two local public universities, University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, and also many other private institutions.

In 2021, Southwestern was chosen as one of the eight campuses in the state to offer a "competency-based" associate's degree program without the need for grades or mandatory attendance on the student's part. Southwestern chose auto tech to be the degree they offer under this program.

Athletics
Southwestern College is in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference and competes in 11 sports which include:
 * Baseball
 * Basketball
 * Football
 * Cross Country
 * Soccer
 * Softball
 * Tennis
 * Track and Field
 * Water Polo
 * Volleyball
 * Swim and Dive

From 1961 until 2001, the Southwestern College mascot was the "Apaches"

Southwestern College's football stadium hosts Bonita Vista High School's football games.

The campus has athletic facilities including: - artificial turf half football field - dirt track - soccer field - softball field - Football stadium with weight room looking over the field - indoor swimming pool - basketball gym - Five full-size tennis courts
 * artificial turf football field
 * baseball stadium

During the week and weekends these fields double as youth soccer fields from ages 6–18.

Notable alumni

 * Brian Bilbray, former Congressman
 * Ammar Campa-Najjar (born 1989), Democratic politician
 * John Fox, professional football coach
 * John Jaso, professional baseball player
 * Dan La Botz, Socialist activist/politician, historian, labor leader
 * Ogemdi Nwagbuo, professional football player
 * Ookay, singer and DJ
 * Rafael Peralta, Navy Cross recipient
 * Luis Perez, XFL quarterback
 * Oliver Ross, professional football player
 * J. Michael Straczynski, writer and television producer
 * Julieta Venegas, singer
 * Yvonne Venegas, photographer
 * Tom Waits, singer, songwriter, musician
 * Dominik Mysterio, professional wrestler