The Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) is a state-funded support program
designed to provide academic support, financial assistance and encouragement for educationally
disadvantaged students. The goal of the program is to help eligible students meet
their educational objectives, whether they seek occupational certificates, associate
degrees, or transfer to four-year institutions.
Located in the Student Services Center on the east wing of second floor of the CSS
building
EOPS is a state-funded program whose roots originated from the 1960s civil right movement,
when awareness of the needs for social equity in every facet of life could no longer
be ignored. It was conceived as a way to help those who were both educationally and
economically disadvantaged to successfully create a future through educational and
life-skills development.
In 1969, Senator Al Alquist proposed Assembly Bill 164, which allocated state funds
to create the Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) in the California Community
College system. This law was designed to aid students with either educations, social,
or economic challenges to complete in college. This action came about as direct result
of civil rights activities and social unrest witnessed during the 1960s as a way to
address injustices and inequalities in our society. Assembly Bill 164 was signed
into law by Governor Ronald Regan on September 4, 1969, and EOPS was born, establishing
EOPS within the California Community College system.
The intent was for EOPS to foster the identification, recruitment, retention, and
educational stimulation of students affected by language, social or economic disadvantages,
and to equalize the educational opportunities of these potential students. The first
EOPS programs were established in Spring 1970 at 46 community colleges. Today, EOPS
exists at all 112 community colleges in California.
EOPS Symbol
In 1971, the Executive Committee of the California Community College EOPS Association
(CCCEOPSA) adopted the Nickel and the Nail as the symbol of aid offered too many California
Community College students through EOPS.
This symbol, the EOPS logo, represents a successful effort at helping to provide the
motivation and means for students to reach their educational goals. The story goes
like this: a young man in the Deep South was walking down a dusty road to visit a
lady friend, all too aware that the nickel in his pocket was all he had in the world.
That emptiness tore away at his self-esteem. But, as he walked, he noticed two-gnarled
horseshoe nails that were twisted together and lying by the road.
He picked them up and put them in his pocket, and as the metal jingled against his
meager fortune, the young man walked a little straighter, with a little more pride
and dignity. It is important to have “something to jingle.” The nails twisted into
a puzzle, suggesting the problem has yet to be unraveled for helping people who, by
circumstances of the society in which we live, have been limited in meeting their
own educational challenges.
In 1971, the Executive Committee of the California Community College EOPS Association
(CCCEOPSA) adopted the Nickel and the Nail as the symbol of aid offered too many California
Community College students through EOPS.
