In the Centennial year of California and Shasta County (1950), Shasta College opened its first campus.

Shasta College was founded in 1948 as part of the Shasta Union High School District. The Shasta College campus was originally a fur and trading center of the Wintu Indians, and was later owned by a soldier and his family after the Mexican-American War. After opening its doors on Eureka Way in the fall of 1950 with 256 day students, Shasta College grew so rapidly that, in 1964, voters approved a bond issue for construction of a 337-acre campus at the main campus location.

A state-of-the-art $1.5 million Early Childhood Education child care center and instructional facility opened in the fall of 2005. A new 44,000 square foot Health Sciences and University Center opened in the fall of 2007, which houses the college’s Dental Hygiene and Nursing Programs. It also serves as host to baccalaureate degree programs offered by both public and private universities.

Shasta College is part of the California Community College system, which is the largest system of higher education in the world, with 112 colleges organized into 72 districts.