Eastern Arizona College

EASTERN ARIZONA COLLEGE AT THATCHER Vocational Technical Building

A short distance to the south. Again, the student in thirty minutes can be on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation or, within an hour, looking into the giant man-made copper pit at Morenci. Working cattle ranches, untouched Sonoran desert, in spring golden Mexican poppy fields, San Carlos Lake, trout streams and lakes, horseback and hiking trails into the mountains, desert life, and lush conifer forests all are within easy grasp of the Eastern Arizona College student.

If life is more intimate in the smaller town, then college is certainly more intimate at EAC. The experience of the student may even be broader than in the larger college, and his teachers become close personal acquaintances who are willing to help guide him through his first two very important years of college life. The curriculum is planned not only for the benefit of the upper ten percent student but also for the average student.

Eastern Arizona College has the lead in many fields of technology. Its courses in automotive technology are outstanding. General education has not been overlooked, and each course offered is correlated carefully with the major universities of Arizona, so that credits can be transferred. A guidance program is an integral part of the college and is designed to help the student choose the proper upper college work or the type of work he wants to enter.

Eastern Arizona College is not a large school, but it is growing steadily, passing the thousand mark. Although small, the college offers over thirty curriculums, a wide enough variety to give the student a strong foundation for higher education.

Eastern Arizona College has young progressive leadership under President Dean A. Curtis and other administrative offi cials. It is the type of leadership that is expected of this new and most rapidly growing segment of higher education in the nation today the junior college.

Eastern Arizona College, located in the rich farming area of the upper Gila River Valley of eastern Arizona at Thatcher, is dedicated to the democratic principle of providing an oppor tunity for a college education for all who can benefit from it. The philosophy expressed by the college recognizes the worth of the individual and hopes to contribute to the culture and social improvement of all of her students as well as to aid them in acquiring knowledge and skills which will prepare them for their individual careers.Now a member of the junior college system of Arizona, the first one in the state, in fact, it was founded in 1888 by Mormon pioneers, who carried it on for forty-three years. In 1933, Gila College became a county junior college, and by 1962 was the first to be incorporated into the state system.

Located in a true oasis at the eastern edge of the Arizona desert country, the setting is unique. In a few minutes the student of biology, geology, agriculture, or forestry can pass through five distinct climatic zones from desert to Canadian type climates on Mount Graham that rises above the campus