| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Public community college in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District (California Community Colleges); classes on campus and online |
| Location | One campus, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA |
| Credentials | Associate degrees (AA, AS) and transfer degrees (AA-T, AS-T), Certificates of Achievement and Certificates of Achievement-Advanced, noncredit certificates of completion and one bachelor’s degree |
| Calendar | Quarter system |
| Enrollment | 18,257 students in fall 2025 (college headcount) |
| Accreditation | ACCJC; reaffirmed for seven years in January 2025 with no compliance requirements; next review 2031 |
| Federal aid | Yes |
| 2026-27 fees | $31 per quarter unit for California residents; $284 per unit for nonresidents |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Facts checked | 9 October 2026 |
A Cupertino community college with licence-track health and trade programs
De Anza College is a public community college in Cupertino and one of two colleges in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District; its sister college is Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. It opened in 1967 and runs on the quarter system. Alongside transfer degrees, it teaches career programs that lead to licences and jobs: registered nursing, medical laboratory technology, phlebotomy, medical assisting, automotive technology, CNC machining, paralegal studies, real estate, and computer networking and security. It also awards one bachelor’s degree, in automotive technology management. The college counted 18,257 students in fall 2025. In January 2025 its accreditor reaffirmed the college’s accreditation for seven years with no compliance requirements.
Career programs on the Cupertino campus
De Anza awards associate degrees, Certificates of Achievement (shorter) and Certificates of Achievement-Advanced (longer), and free noncredit certificates of completion in some fields. The table lists the main career programs from the college’s department and career-training pages (checked October 2026); a dash means the pages gave no figure. Unit totals are not given here; check the 2026-27 catalog or ask the department.
| Program | Credential | Length and entry | Delivery | Accreditation or approval | Prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse | AS | Six quarters of nursing courses after prerequisites; waiting list; HESI exam | Campus and clinical sites | Pass rates reported by the California BRN | NCLEX-RN |
| LVN Transition to RN | AS | At least three quarters; California LVN license and IV certification required | Campus and clinical sites | – | NCLEX-RN |
| Medical Laboratory Technology | AA; Certificate of Achievement-Advanced | 24 months (AA) or 15 months (certificate); CPT-1 licence required | Campus and clinical labs (828 hours) | NAACLS through 2029; Laboratory Field Services | ASCP BOC and AAB MLT exams |
| Phlebotomy Technician I | Certificate of Achievement | – | Campus and externship | Laboratory Field Services (CDPH) | California CPT I |
| Medical Assisting | Certificate of Achievement-Advanced; AS | – | Campus and externship; the department offers day, evening and online courses | None stated | – |
| Insurance and Coding | Certificate of Achievement | – | Campus and externship | – | – |
| Automotive Technology | Certificates of Achievement; Certificates of Achievement-Advanced; AS; BS in Automotive Technology Management | – | Campus; day and evening | ASE Education Foundation | California smog inspections (Smog Technician) |
| CNC Machinist | Certificate of Achievement; Certificate of Achievement-Advanced; AS | – | Campus | NIMS | – |
| Paralegal Studies | AA; Certificate of Achievement-Advanced; specialty certificates | – | Campus | American Bar Association (since 1991) | Paralegal work |
| Real Estate | Certificate of Achievement; AA; noncredit salesperson certificate | – | Campus, with an online option | – | California Real Estate Sales License exam |
| Cybersecurity; Network Administration | Certificates of Achievement; Certificates of Achievement-Advanced; AA | – | Campus; Cybersecurity (and the Network Basics certificate) with an online option | – | – |
| Film/TV Production; Animation | Certificates of Achievement; Certificate of Achievement-Advanced (Production); AA | – | Campus | – | – |
Every program is based at the Cupertino campus. Nursing, laboratory and health technology students also complete rotations or externships at outside hospitals, clinics and labs. New for 2026-27 are an Automotive Service and Repair AS, a Bookkeeping program and Applied Artificial Intelligence certificates and an AS.
What the main programs cover
Registered nursing
Applicants take the HESI Admission Assessment, must complete their immunizations before admission, and apply during one of three windows: 1–15 September, 15 November to 15 January, or 15 February to 15 April. The nursing courses then run for six quarters, with clinical rotations at hospitals that have included O’Connor and Regional Medical Center. Nursing students transferring from another school can ask for advanced placement, which swaps Nursing 50 for a sociology or cultural anthropology class.
Medical laboratory technology
Admission uses a rolling wait list, and applicants must already hold an active California CPT-1 phlebotomy licence. In the second year, students rotate through clinical laboratories in three 216-hour placements and one 180-hour placement over 22 weeks, at sites that have included the Kaiser Regional Laboratory in Berkeley and Spectra Laboratories in Milpitas. Degree students need 24 months including summers; holders of an associate degree or higher can take the 15-month advanced certificate instead.
Medical assisting
Medical assisting at De Anza mixes clinical and front-office work. Students practise taking vital signs, assisting with minor surgery, running routine lab procedures and giving medications, and they also learn coding and medical records. The program includes an externship at a local clinical site. Health Technologies courses are scheduled in the day, in the evening and online. The department’s pages do not state CAAHEP or ABHES accreditation, so ask which certification exam graduates are eligible to take.
Automotive technology
Automotive courses meet in the day and in the evening. Certificates of Achievement include Basic Engine Performance and Automotive General Service Technician, and advanced certificates and AS degrees are offered in areas such as Automotive Machining and Engine Repair or Chassis and Powertrain. The Smog Technician certificate covers California’s state smog inspections, and two Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Technician levels cover newer vehicles. The 13 free noncredit certificates include EV and Fuel Vehicle Safety and Alternative Fuels.
CNC machining and manufacturing
The Design and Manufacturing Technologies department is a Haas Technical Education Center and a Mastercam training center. Besides the CNC Machinist awards, students can take a CNC Programming CAD/CAM certificate, an advanced certificate and AS in Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping, an additive manufacturing (3D design and production) certificate, a Quality Control Technician certificate, or Computer Aided Design – Mechanical, which has an online option. The department page does not give course lengths, so ask how many quarters each award takes.
Paralegal studies
Paralegal Studies has held ABA approval since 1991 and has been re-approved three times. Students choose between the AA and the Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, and can add an advanced specialty certificate in corporate law, intellectual property or litigation. The college’s 2026 report to its accreditor gives paralegal job placement of 84% for 2024-25 and 85% for 2023-24, without cohort sizes, so treat the figures as a guide.
Fees for 2026-27 and paying for them
De Anza charges by the quarter unit. Every California resident pays the same enrollment fee, so there is no separate in-district rate. The college’s fees page (updated 28 September 2026) lists:
| Fee (2026-27) | Amount |
|---|---|
| California resident enrollment fee | $31 per quarter unit (statewide rate; no separate in-district rate) |
| Nonresident tuition (out-of-state and international students) | $253 per quarter unit on top of the $31 enrollment fee, so $284 per unit |
| Health services fee | $22 per quarter |
| Campus Center fee | $17.50 per quarter |
| VTA SmartPass (transit) | $5.75 to $7.75 per quarter, depending on units |
| Student government fee | $12 (optional) |
| Student representation fee | $2 per quarter in fall, winter and spring (optional) |
A California resident taking 15 units in each of three quarters (45 units) pays about $1,537 a year in enrollment, health, campus center and transit fees, and a nonresident about $12,922 (our arithmetic from the published rates). The noncredit automotive, real estate salesperson and computing certificates are tuition-free; materials for the automotive and real estate courses are extra.
De Anza takes federal financial aid: 10,031 students received aid in 2024-25, totalling about $38.9 million, according to the college’s fall 2025 Fast Facts. Federal IPEDS data put the average net price at $9,693 for 2024. Veterans applying to the RN program are placed on its waiting list faster.
Admissions, starts and schedules
De Anza is open admission. Some programs then have their own entry steps:
- Registered Nurse: waiting list, HESI Admission Assessment and immunizations; applications 1–15 September, 15 November to 15 January and 15 February to 15 April; cohorts start every quarter except summer.
- LVN Transition to RN: current California LVN license and IV certification.
- Medical Laboratory Technology: rolling wait list and an active CPT-1 licence; the advanced certificate also requires an associate degree or higher.
The college runs on quarters. Automotive classes run in the day and evening, and Health Technologies offers day, evening and online courses. Business Administration and Entrepreneurship certificates can be completed fully online, and management, marketing, real estate, cybersecurity, network basics and CAD courses have online options. The college’s 2026 report to its accreditor says 83% of students took at least one online course in 2024-25. We found no statement on whether students living outside California can enroll in its online programs, and some online courses may require time on campus.
Accreditation and results
De Anza College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). By letter of 21 January 2025, the commission reaffirmed the college’s accreditation for seven years with no compliance requirements. It made one college and one district recommendation for improvement, which it said do not identify current deficiencies. A midterm report is due in October 2028, and the next full review takes place in 2031.
Program accreditors and approvals: the American Bar Association (paralegal studies, since 1991), NAACLS (medical laboratory technology, through 2029), California’s Laboratory Field Services (medical laboratory technology and phlebotomy), the ASE Education Foundation (automotive) and NIMS (machining). The Board of Registered Nursing publishes the RN program’s pass rates.
| Measure | Result | Cohort and source |
|---|---|---|
| NCLEX-RN, first-time | 97.50% (40 tested) | 2024-25; California Board of Registered Nursing |
| NCLEX-RN, first-time | 97.44% (39 tested) | 2023-24; California Board of Registered Nursing |
| Phlebotomy licensure exam | 99% | 2023-24 and 2024-25; college report to ACCJC (2026) |
| Medical laboratory technology licensure exam | 100% | Each year 2022-23 to 2024-25; college report to ACCJC (2026) |
| Job placement: nursing | 92% | 2024-25; college report to ACCJC (2026) |
| Job placement: machining | 89% | 2024-25; college report to ACCJC (2026) |
| Job placement: paralegal | 84% | 2024-25; college report to ACCJC (2026) |
| Job placement: automotive | 82% | 2024-25; college report to ACCJC (2026) |
The board figures come with tester counts. The college’s own report gives lower nursing pass rates (90% for 2023-24 and 96% for 2024-25) without stating its definition, so we use the board’s. The job placement rates are the college’s figures for career program completers and do not give cohort sizes.
Before you enroll
- Open admission does not extend to nursing or laboratory science. The RN program usually has a waiting list, requires the HESI exam and takes applications only in three windows a year, and medical laboratory technology uses a rolling wait list and requires a California CPT-1 licence first.
- De Anza has no vocational nursing (LVN) program and is not offering an RN refresher course at present, and it does not currently admit foreign-educated nurses for coursework the California Board of Registered Nursing requires.
- The Community Education online courses in medical billing and coding, clinical medical assisting, EKG and sterile processing are delivered by ed2go, an outside provider. They end in a noncredit certificate of completion with no academic units on a De Anza transcript, and they are separate from the credit certificates described on this page.
- The Foothill-De Anza district ran a $7.6 million deficit in 2025-26, and its 2026-27 budget cuts teaching load at both colleges by about 3.5%, with a similar cut expected the following year (president’s message, 11 September 2026). No program closures were announced, but popular classes are already hard to get: on Niche, only 42% of surveyed students say it is easy to get the classes they want.
- Law Enforcement and Corrections/Probation are associate degrees only. De Anza does not run a police academy and is not a member college of the regional public safety training consortium, so students aiming for police work need a basic academy elsewhere.
Clinical placements and industry links
RN clinical rotations take place at hospitals including El Camino, Stanford, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Kaiser Santa Clara, and medical laboratory technology students complete 828 hours in clinical labs. Phlebotomy, medical assisting and insurance and coding students do externships at local clinical sites. The machining program is a Haas Technical Education Center and a Mastercam training center, and the automotive program is accredited by the ASE Education Foundation.
What students say on Niche
On Niche, De Anza College averages 3.81 out of 5 from 1,257 reviews, with an overall grade of B+ (checked 9 October 2026). Reviewers most often praise supportive, knowledgeable professors, a diverse and welcoming campus, and low cost with strong preparation for transfer. The most common complaints are popular classes that are hard to get into, a limited social life on a commuter campus, and the fast pace of the quarter system. We could not see when the reviews were posted or whether the college invited them, so we can’t say whether they arrived in bursts.
Sources
Checked 9 October 2026: De Anza Nursing: overview for applicants · Health Technologies degrees and certificates · De Anza fees · De Anza accreditation · 2026 ACCJC annual report · California BRN NCLEX pass rates · Fall 2025 Fast Facts · Niche
Programs & Courses
Nursing
- Registered Nurse (RN) (AS)
- LVN Transition to RN (AS)
Health Technologies
- Medical Assisting (Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AS)
- Phlebotomy Technician I (Certificate of Achievement)
- Medical Laboratory Technology (AA, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced)
- Clinical Laboratory Assistant and Lab Assisting (Certificates of Achievement)
- Insurance and Coding (Certificate of Achievement)
- Medical Reception and Business Office Clerk (Certificates of Achievement)
Automotive Technology
- Automotive Technology (Certificates of Achievement, Certificates of Achievement-Advanced, AS)
- Automotive Service and Repair (AS, new for 2026-27)
- Smog Technician (Certificate of Achievement)
- Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Technician, Levels 1 and 2
- Automotive Technology Management (BS)
- Noncredit automotive certificates (tuition-free)
Design and Manufacturing
- CNC Machinist (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AS)
- CNC Programming – CAD/CAM (Certificate of Achievement)
- CNC Research and Development Machinist (Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AS)
- Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Technician (Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AS)
- Additive Manufacturing: 3D Design and Production (Certificate of Achievement)
- Computer Aided Design – Mechanical (Certificate of Achievement)
- Quality Control Technician (Certificate of Achievement)
Business and Real Estate
- Accounting and Bookkeeping
- Business Administration (Certificate of Achievement, AA, AS-T)
- Management (Certificate of Achievement, AA)
- Marketing Management (Certificate of Achievement, AA)
- Entrepreneurship (Certificate of Achievement)
- Real Estate (Certificate of Achievement, AA; noncredit Real Estate Salesperson certificate)
Law and Administration of Justice
- Paralegal Studies (AA, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced; Corporate Law, Intellectual Property and Litigation specialties)
- Law Enforcement (AA)
- Corrections/Probation (AA)
- Community Service Officer (Certificate of Achievement-Advanced)
- Forensic Criminal Investigation Technician (Certificate of Achievement-Advanced)
- Private Security (Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA)
Computer Information Systems
- Cybersecurity (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA)
- Network Administration (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA) and Network Basics
- Database Development Practitioner (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA)
- IT Technical Support (Certificate of Achievement)
- Web Development (Certificate of Achievement)
- Programming in C/C++, Java and Python (Certificates of Achievement)
- Applied Artificial Intelligence (Certificates of Achievement, AS, new for 2026-27)
- Project Management Practitioner (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA)
- Computer Science for Transfer (AS-T)
Film, Design and Child Development
- Film/TV Production (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA)
- Animation (Certificate of Achievement, AA)
- Graphic and Interactive Design (Certificate of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement-Advanced, AA)
- Child Development, Early Childhood Mental Health and Early Intervention/Special Education Assistant
Campus Locations
San Jose (Cupertino), CA 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014