Schools & Education
Bakersfield, as a large, established community, has an extensive education system consisting of 15 public school districts. The public school system contains 119 campuses, broken down as follows: 12 high schools, 24 middle schools and 83 elementary schools. These facilities have a combined enrollment of about 100,000 students.
The largest school district is Bakersfield City Elementary School District (BCESD). BCESD provides curriculum from the pre-kindergarten level through the eighth grade, with more than 40 campuses located throughout the city. Roughly 30,000 students attend BCESD schools and the student-to-teacher ratio is less than 21:1.
Several smaller districts also provide elementary and intermediate school education in Bakersfield. These include: Beardsley Elementary School District, Edison Elementary School District, Fairfax Elementary School District, Fruitvale Elementary School District, General Shafter Elementary, Greenfield Union Elementary, Lakeside Union School District, Norris Elementary School District, Panama Buena Vista Union Elementary School District, Rio-Bravo Greeley Union Elementary District, Rosedale Union Elementary School District, Standard Elementary School District and Vineland Elementary School District.
High school education is mainly provided by Kern Union High School District (KUHSD) and its 23 campuses. Seventeen of these campuses are located in Bakersfield; the remaining six are in neighboring communities like Arvin and Lake Isabella. KUHSD has a total enrollment of about 33,000 and maintains a student-to-teacher ratio of 22.9.
Options for private education in Bakersfield are largely parochial programs. There are at least two private high schools and about eight private elementary/intermediate schools. These ten campuses cater to a student population of about 3,800.
Several institutions also offer Bakersfield students the opportunity to continue their education locally after high school. The most prominent college is California State University at Bakersfield (CSUB), a four-year, public institution. Established in 1965, CSUB has grown its enrollment to almost 8,000 graduate and undergraduate students who participate in 31 bachelor’s programs and 22 master’s programs. These courses of study fall under four main schools within the college: Humanities and Social Sciences, Business and Public Administration, Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Education.
Bakersfield College provides two-year programs and transferable general education coursework. About 15,000 students attend classes at Bakersfield College’s 153-acre campus in the northeastern section of the city. The school has the distinction of being one of the country’s oldest community colleges that has been operating continuously since its founding in 1913. Students can take advantage of traditional semester classes and distance learning programs.
There are also career training centers within the city. Two prominent facilities are the Golden State College at Bakersfield and San Joaquin Valley College.