Colleges in Long Beach
Long Beach, California, is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the 7th most populous city in the state. It’s home to the second busiest container port in the US, a huge part of the city’s economy thanks to its goods movement and environmental stewardship. The Port of Long Beach has even led to the city’s official nickname: the Aquatic Capital of America. With approximately 22 miles of coast, it’s unsurprising that one of the two higher education institutions in Long Beach is located right on the Pacific Ocean.
California State University in Long Beach, colloquially known as Long Beach State, LBSU, and The Beach, is part of the 23-school California State University system (CSU). The Beach was founded in 1949 and confers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. It maintains the largest publicly funded art school west of the Mississippi on its 323-acre campus, which also features the Walter Pyramid, an eighteen story, state-of-the-art sporting complex where the 49ers play. With the highest application rate in the CSU system, Long Beach State enrolls more than 37,000 students every year.
Located in Lakewood Village, Long Beach City College (LBCC) is the other higher education institution in the city. It is a public community college that was founded in 1927 and serves more than 30,000 students each year on its two campuses, the second on Santa Catalina Island. It has a nationally ranked nursing program as well as a large English as a Second Language (ESL) program, but offers a wide variety of degree and vocational programs.
Long Beach is one of the most bicycle-friendly urban cities in the nation, offering 60 miles of separate off-road bike paths, and the city is ranked well in walkability, as well. Even so, a majority of residents drive to work using freeways and highways, and public transportation comes in as the second most popular.
