Community colleges don't just serve students who didn't get accepted into prestigious four-year universities.

They fulfill the needs of high school graduates who want to jump-start their post-secondary education, and they provide extra training for the local work force at a bargain price.

Since it was built 40 years ago, Moorpark College has continued to evolve to meet the needs of the community, according to college leaders at a recent media event held on campus.

Students can earn associate degrees in arts and science or get vocational certificates of achievements to improve their job skills.

About 73 percent of the student population at Moorpark College is under 24 years old. Many of these young people want to stay in Ventura County to complete their education because they have jobs locally and their families are here, said college officials.

Moorpark College has been expanding program offerings to serve these students. A partnership with University of La Verne was formed to offer bachelor's degrees in business administration, child development and liberal studies on the local campus beginning in June 2008.

La Verne will rent some facilities and bring their own professors, advisers and counselors, said Pam Eddinger, executive vice president of student learning for Moorpark College.

Most classes will be offered at night and on weekends to accommodate working adults, including those with children.

College leaders said they hope to create similar alliances with other fouryear institutions, including Cal State Northridge and Cal State Channel Islands.

Students from CSUCI already come to Moorpark for the nursing program.

"This is the beginning of a new trend," Eddinger said.

College officials also unveiled their plans last week to build three new structures on the aging campus: a health and science building, an academic center and a complex for the exotic zoo program.

College serves adults, too

In addition to preparing young students who want to transfer to fouryear institutions, college officials are expanding work force development and skills training programs to help local adults earn a better living, they said.

"The responsibility of colleges is not only to educate people in the classroom but also to educate the community so they have better opportunities," said Ray Di Guilio, vice president of business services for Moorpark College.

College leaders also want to prepare the labor force for trades that will be in demand in coming years.

As baby boomers retire, demographics change and manual labor jobs vanish, people need to be trained to function in the state's evolving economy, they said.

Ten years from now minorities will make up 40 percent of the U.S. population. As the country's future, that work force needs to be trained for an information-based economy, Di Guilio said.

Teachers and skilled workers in the medical field will also be in demand, he said.

Yearlong learning themes

Last year, to facilitate critical thinking and productive communication, Moorpark College leaders established yearlong learning themes. Last year's was science and religion; this year's theme is the environment.

"Colleges are supposed to teach students how to operate in the world outside of the classroom," Eddinger said. "Our students are living in such an uncivil time. People are not taught to carry on a civil conversation to exchange ideas."

The Year of the Environment will aim to teach students to amicably exchange ideas and carry on difficult conversations with those of opposing views.