During the 1964-65 college year, the San Luis Obispo County Junior College District offered a limited evening division program with 463 students registering for the fall semester and 696 enrolling for the spring semester. Temporary quarters were established at Camp San Luis Obispo , a California National Guard facility located halfway between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay . Classes and offices were situated in refurbished barracks, recreation rooms and mess halls.
Despite the District's modest beginnings, 917 day students and 991 evening students were enrolled in classes by the fall of 1965. Evening division classes also were conducted at three other locations in the county—Arroyo Grande, Atascadero and Paso Robles. On October 4, 1965, the Board of Trustees of the San Luis Obispo County Junior College District named the new college “Cuesta College.” In 1971, the “junior” college district was renamed to “community college.” In 1970, ground was broken for the college's first permanent buildings, located on a 150-acre campus west of Camp San Luis Obispo . During the following 30 years, classroom buildings, a library, observatory, student center, art and music lab building, art gallery, high tech learning center, children's center and offices were constructed on the San Luis Obispo campus. By spring 2007, the student population on the San Luis Obispo Campus grew to more than 8,450 students.
Cuesta College has a long history, dating back to the late 1960s of teaching at off-campus instructional sites. Through the years, Cuesta has taught in Cambria, Atascadero , Paso Robles, Templeton, Arroyo Grande and Nipomo.
In fall 1998, the college opened the North County Campus on it 105-acre site in Paso Robles. The campus, built almost exclusively with private gift support, served more than 2,800 students in day as well as evening classes during the spring 2007 semester. The campus began with modular buildings to be used until permanent buildings were provided by the state. In the summer of 2005, the first permanent building opened to students—the Allied Health, Math and Science Building .
The South County Centers are off-campus evening instructional sites, provided in cooperation with the Lucia Mar Unified School District on Arroyo Grande and Nipomo High School campuses. The centers served more than 700 students during spring 2007. In an ongoing effort to reach South County students, Cuesta College is seeking additional options to expand instruction and services.
Cuesta College now serves more than 11,500 students. The college has become a center for community use by individuals, families and community groups on an extended-day and year-round basis.
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