Central Arizona College’s Maricopa campus — celebrating 10 years

For more than 50 years, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the diverse communities of Pinal County. With five campuses located strategically throughout the county, CAC provides accessible, educational, economic, cultural and personal growth opportunities for those of all ages.

Since the opening of the Signal Peak Campus in Coolidge in the fall of 1969, CAC has extended its accessibility throughout Pinal County, becoming an important community-building entity. The goal of the college is to create a world-class learner experience.
During the 1972-73 academic year, the state board for community colleges authorized a 48-bed addition to the dormitories at the Signal Peak Campus and approved preliminary construction plans for the Arizona College of Technology, now known as the Aravaipa Campus.

In 1982, CAC began offering classes in Apache Junction, using portable classrooms at Apache Junction High School. From 1985-1987, CAC held classes for students from the East Valley at the Grand Hotel. During the summer of 1987, the Superstition Mountain Campus opened at its current location.

On August 10, 2006, a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opened the new Maricopa Center, 17945 N. Regent Dr, in the heart of this thriving community.

Voters of Pinal County authorized the college to expand educational opportunities and accessibility throughout the county by approving a nearly $99 million general-obligation bond in November 2008. This stamp of approval allowed CAC to begin the process of building new campuses in the San Tan Valley area and in Maricopa, while also upgrading facilities at the Signal Peak, Superstition Mountain and Aravaipa campuses.

Central Arizona College’s San Tan Center in The Shops at Copper Basin opened for business along the Hunt Highway Corridor in 2009.

Two years later, CAC conducted groundbreaking ceremonies for its campus in Maricopa at 17945 N. Regent Drive, giving the college the ability to extend services to the growing community. The evidence of a need to build a campus in Maricopa was reflected in its enrollment growth. The Maricopa Campus opened on Jan, 2, 2013.

In December of that year, a ribbon cutting was held at the new San Tan Valley Campus and classes started in January 2014.

As CAC marks a decade at the beautiful Maricopa Campus, we celebrate its unique features, including state-of-the art culinary and nursing-assistance classrooms, an E-sports gaming room, student lounge, makerspace lab, and community rooms available for the public to rent. Many classes that meet the general education requirements for all CAC certificates and degrees are offered at the Maricopa Campus.

In the years to come, the college looks forward to increased community engagement and expanded events that meet the needs of residents in Maricopa.