When the College of the Canyons’ Canyon Country campus opened its doors in fall 2007, 615 full-time students trekked along Sierra Highway and took classes in the portable classrooms arranged on a barren canyon wall.

Now summer classes are completely full and, for the first time, the Canyon Country campus filled up before COC’s main Valencia campus, said Dena Maloney, vice president of the Canyon Country campus and economic development.

“Now every seat is taken,” said Maloney, who also heads up economic development for the entire district.

The spring 2010 semester boasted 838 full-time students. Nearly 60 percent of the college’s class of 2010 took at least one class at the Canyon Country campus, Maloney said.

Meeting the demand
College leaders don’t expect demand to let up for the fall semester.

The Canyon Country campus has about 8,800 seats open for fall semester classes, and Maloney said she wouldn’t be surprised if fall enrollment hit 5,000 students.

Among the more popular classes are general education, like history, English and math.

However, the Canyon Country campus offers specialized programs, including water systems technology, which is growing in popularity, Maloney said.

The campus was established as a way to meet the growing demands of the Santa Clarita Valley’s east side.

“Our Valencia campus was only engineered for 5,000 students, and we currently have 18,000 students,” said Scott Wilk, board president of the Santa Clarita Community College District, which oversees COC.

Projections put about 10,000 students at the Canyon Country campus at “build-out” — that is, when construction is complete.

“In terms of student population, Canyon Country could very much rival the Valencia campus,” Wilk said.

The Canyon Country and Valencia campuses are two of the three campuses outlined in COC’s master plan, Wilk said.

The location of the third campus depends on local growth, but it could end up along the Highway 126 corridor, Wilk said.

A permanent campus
The campus currently has 28 classrooms and five labs, along with offices that offer nearly the same student services as those on the main Valencia campus, Maloney said.

Along with a student lounge, a library and a handful of study rooms, the Canyon Country campus is getting ready to open its first fresh coffee and food stand by the end of the month.

“This is the first speciality coffee we’ve had on the campus,” Maloney said about the Maui Wowi Hawaiian coffee stand.

Even a planetarium could be part of the campus one day, Maloney said. But for now, the college hopes to plant a series of gardens around the campus, including a “red, white and blue veterans’ garden” to honor students who have served in the military, she said.

The campus is still made up of portable buildings, but COC officials expect to build seven permanent structures that total 240,000 square feet, Maloney said.

However, the college’s construction timelines are in limbo because of the state budget crisis. College leaders are waiting on state matching funds to begin work.

One of the first permanent buildings will house classrooms and science laboratories.

The college is also continuing plans for an applied technology building, which would house career-technical programs like automotive technology, she said.

Vincent Devlahovich, chairman of COC’s geology and geography department, has taught at least one class at the Canyon Country campus since it opened in 2007.

His initial classes counted about 10 students, far less than the average class size of 22.

Now they’re nearly full, with as many as 30 students packing the classrooms to take his geology classes, he said.

“The biggest thing is we’re getting established in the community,” he said. “I think you’re going to see it continue to grow.”

Permanent buildings will help draw even more students, he said.

“It’s just going to intrigue people to come even more.”