Glendale Community College was founded in 1927 to serve the needs of the people in the Glendale Union High School District which included La Crescenta, Glendale, and Tujunga. The school was founded as Glendale Junior College and from 1927 to 1929 conducted classes in the buildings of Glendale Union High School at Broadway and Verdugo in the City of Glendale. In 1929 the junior college moved to the Harvard School plant of the Glendale Union High School District where it remained until 1937. In this year a new plant, part of the present one, was completed and occupied. The year before, in 1936, the Glendale Junior College District was dissolved as such and became a part of the new Glendale Unified School District. The name of the school was changed to Glendale College in 1944. On July 1, 1970 Glendale College became a part of the Glendale Junior College District. On April 20, 1971 the Board of Education adopted a resolution changing the District name to Glendale Community College District.

On November 3, 1980, Glendale voters approved a measure to establish separate Boards. In April 1981, the new members were added to the Board. The separation resulted in the creation of a Board of Trustees solely responsible for the governance of the Glendale Community College District. In 1936 twenty-five acres were acquired for the present site of the college. The campus now consists of 100 acres and 15 permanent buildings. It is beautifully located on the slopes of the San Rafael Mountains overlooking the valleys in the Glendale area.

Glendale Community College has a college-credit enrollment of about 15,000 day and evening students, and approximately 10,000 others are reached through the adult education program, specialized job training programs such as JTPA and GAIN, and contract instruction administered by the Professional Development Center.