Río Hondo College celebrates its 62nd academic year in 2024-2025.
The Río Hondo Community College District was established by election in October 1960, but first classes were not held until 1963-1964. Since the district’s boundaries at that time were identical to those of the Whittier Union High School District, administration of the district was by the high school district Board of Trustees. Creation of the El Rancho Unified School District in 1962 required that Río Hondo College establish its own Board of Trustees, and an election for that purpose was held in April 1962.
The new Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Phil Putnam as the founding Superintendent-President in February 1963. In May 1963, the Board chose Río Hondo as the name for the college. The name, long associated with the area surrounding the Río Hondo River, means “deep river.”
College classes were offered for the first time in the late afternoons and evenings in September 1963 at Sierra and El Rancho High Schools. Following selection of the present campus site, a $12 million bond issue to build the college was approved by 80.1 percent of the district voters in October 1963. During 1964 and 1965, Río Hondo College conducted classes for a limited enrollment at the former Little Lake School in Santa Fe Springs.
The present campus opened in the fall of 1966 with an enrollment of 3,363 day and 2,682 evening students. Measure A, a $245 million bond passed by voters in 2004, now provides new buildings and facilities upgrades campus-wide as well as new off-site educational centers in South Whittier and El Monte. Today, Río Hondo enrolls approximately 20,000 students per semester.