De Anza College

De Anza College sits on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, a short drive down Interstate 280 from Palo Alto. It is one of the biggest community colleges in the region, with 16,396 students in winter 2025 according to state data cited on Wikipedia. For Palo Alto residents it matters for three reasons: transfer and career programs at public college prices, short noncredit courses for adults and a set of public venues that includes a planetarium, an art museum and a monthly flea market.

This page covers the college as a resident or visitor would use it. Fees and policies come from the college's own pages as read in early November 2026. Confirm details on the De Anza website before you enroll or drive down, since several pages there carry dates from earlier years.

Location and getting there

The address is 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014. That is about 14 miles from downtown Palo Alto by road, or about 11 miles in a straight line. Outside rush hour the drive takes 20 to 30 minutes. The usual route is Interstate 280 south, then a short run on surface streets to Stevens Creek Boulevard.

Transit works but takes longer. VTA buses run along Stevens Creek Boulevard to the college. From Palo Alto that usually means Caltrain or a bus to a VTA connection. Check the trip planner on VTA's site or our guide to VTA buses before relying on a bus home after an evening event.

Our Cupertino guide covers the city around the campus. The Cupertino food guide lists places to eat on Stevens Creek Boulevard.

History in brief

De Anza opened in 1967 as the second college of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. Its sister school is Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, which opened a decade earlier. The college is named for Juan Bautista de Anza, the Spanish explorer who led an overland party of settlers from Sonora to the Bay Area in 1775 and 1776. The campus covers 112 acres on a site that once held a winery.

A few dates stand out in the college's story:

• 1971: students and faculty built the Cheeseman Environmental Study Area, a garden of about 400 native plant species grouped into 12 California plant communities.
• 1971: the Calvin C. Flint Center for the Performing Arts was dedicated. It seated about 2,400 people.
• January 1984: Steve Jobs introduced the original Macintosh at the Flint Center. He returned there for the iMac in 1998. Our Steve Jobs page covers his Palo Alto years.
• 2005: the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies opened. Wikipedia describes it as the first community college building in the United States to earn a LEED Platinum rating.
• March 6, 2009: the Visual and Performing Arts Center opened with a 400-seat hall.
• June 22, 2019: the Flint Center held its last event. The district board voted to close and tear down the building.
• 2020: the college replaced its old mascot, the Don, with the Mountain Lion after a student vote.

Programs and how the college works

De Anza is a public, open-access college. It offers associate degrees, certificates and transfer preparation for the University of California and California State University. Like Foothill, it runs on a quarter system, which is unusual among California community colleges. A full academic year has three main quarters plus summer.

Some programs worth knowing about:

• Transfer pathways. Transfer is the college's best-known strength. Wikipedia puts the number of students transferring each year at about 2,800.
• Puente Project. A program of English classes, counseling and mentoring aimed at helping underserved students reach four-year universities.
• Career and technical education. Automotive technology, design and manufacturing and other applied programs.
• Environmental studies. More than 100 environmental classes meet in the Kirsch Center, covering energy management, pollution prevention and wildlife science among other subjects.
• Civic engagement. The Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action runs community service learning. It was founded in 2005 and renamed in 2015 for the late state legislator John Vasconcellos.

Palo Alto University runs bachelor's degree completion programs with De Anza and other local community colleges. Our Palo Alto University page explains how they work.

Admission and fees

Admission is open. You apply online through the state community college application and then register for classes by your assigned date. There is no entrance exam, though placement and prerequisites apply to some courses.

The college's fees page lists these charges. It does not state an academic year, so treat them as the current posted rates for 2026 to 2027 and check before you register.

A resident taking a typical 15-unit load would pay $465 in enrollment fees plus the quarterly fees. Financial aid, including the California College Promise Grant, can waive the enrollment fee for students who qualify. The same $31 and $253 figures appear on Foothill's fees page, which our adult education guide covers.

Short courses and community education

Not everyone who uses De Anza is working toward a degree. The college's Community Education Division offers Short Courses for teens and adults. These are noncredit classes on practical and personal interest topics, with their own catalog and registration separate from the credit schedule. The same division runs the De Anza College Academy for students in grades 6 to 12.

The California History Center also teaches credit classes in regional history, alongside its exhibits and archive. Adults who want a single credit class can enroll as regular students and pay the per-unit fee.

Venues and events open to the public

Fujitsu Planetarium

The planetarium has a 50-foot dome and seats 139. It opened in the early 1970s as the Minolta Planetarium and took its current name in 2008. A new digital projection system went in during 2016. It hosts school field trips by day and public astronomy and laser shows on weekend evenings during the school year. The show list posted on the college's planetarium page appeared to date from an earlier year when we checked, so confirm dates and ticket details by phone or email first. For other places to see the sky, read our stargazing guide.

Euphrat Museum of Art

The Euphrat shows work by students and community artists, curated around themes. It also runs art education programs in local schools. Exhibitions change through the year.

California History Center

The center is housed in Le Petit Trianon, a historic mansion on campus. It holds changing exhibits and an archive of Santa Clara Valley history that researchers can use by arrangement.

Visual and Performing Arts Center

The 400-seat hall hosts student productions, concerts and community events. It replaced much of the role the Flint Center once played, on a smaller scale.

The flea market

The De Anza flea market is held on the first Saturday of every month, rain or shine. The student body runs it and the proceeds pay for student activities. Wikipedia describes it as having about 825 vendor stalls. Arrive early for the best selection and for easier parking.

Campus tours

De Anza's campus tours page sets out the rules:

1. Guided tours are free and last about 45 to 60 minutes.
2. Book with the online Campus Tour Request form. You get an email confirmation.
3. New dates are posted in the second week of each quarter. No tours run in the first or last two weeks of a quarter.
4. Tours start at the Registration and Student Services Building. Early arrivals can wait in the lobby near the information desk.
5. Individual, group or other-time tours need a separate special request form.

When we checked, the listed winter dates had filled. For upcoming dates, the college asks visitors to email its outreach office. A self-directed campus art tour is also posted.

Parking

The Foothill-De Anza district uses a digital system in which your license plate is your permit. The district's parking rules say visitors must register for a daily digital permit and that rules apply all year. De Anza's tours page says visitors may park in any student lot. The college's fees page also mentioned a temporary policy of free student parking through the end of the 2025 to 2026 year. Because these pages differ, register a daily permit unless the district tells you otherwise. Our Foothill College page walks through the same system.

Frequently asked questions