1924 Establishment of Pasadena Junior College on Pasadena High School campus. One year of college work added; another the following year. Bonds of $2,994,000 passed in a special election on 3-28-24.

After the passage of the bond proposal, the school board established Pasadena Junior College (PJC) on the Pasadena High School campus in 1924. One of the first problems centered on the structure of the new junior college and its relationship to general school structure. Pasadena schools were organized under the 6-3-3 plan, with the first six years of formal education spent in an elementary school followed by three years in a junior high and three more years in a high school. The two types most frequently discussed were: a separate two-year junior college (essentially grades thirteen and fourteen), as part of a 6-3-3-2 school-wide program: and a four-year junior college, grades eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen, as in a 6-4-4 system.

1924 PJC opens with 270 students and 31 faculty. Mascot: The Pirate Colors: Blue and Gold

The "6-4-4 Plan". As discussions grew over the structure of the citywide school system, the debate focused on the following basic issues:

1. Which system would best fit into the reorganization plans already laid?

2. Which system would produce the best articulation?

3. Which system would be the most economical both in money and in time?

4. Which system lent itself the more readily to development of vocational and terminal courses?

5. Which system offered the most guidance possibilities?

6. Which system was the most flexible as to curricula?

7. Which system could best carry out the objective of the compulsory school attendance law?

8. Which system would make it easier to obtain and retain superior teachers?

The opinions expressed by educators and informed citizens varied. For example, many argued that the first two years of college should be lodged in the secondary unit and not in a college or university. They believed that universities were not able to deal with immature freshmen because the classes were too large. Additionally, some professors stated that their lower division courses—"general education courses—properly belonged in the secondary school structure. Others claimed that a four-year junior college, grades eleven to fourteen inclusive, would be more homogeneous—that as a group this student body would be in the transition stage between pubescence and post-pubescence and that this grouping would more likely meet their physiological and mental needs. Not surprisingly, opponents challenged each of these claims.

One point of more immediate concern to the taxpaying citizens was the matter of economics. Supporters of the four-year junior college argued that their plan would result in more economies in administration, housing and maintenance than a 6-3-3-2 system because three systems could be operated with less cost than four.

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