LaGuardia Community College

LaGuardia Community College is a public community college in the Queens borough of Long Island City in New York City. It is affiliated with New York City University. Fiorello H. LaGuardia, a former congressman and mayor of New York City, is honoured by the airport's name. The institution provides continuing education programmes in addition to associate degrees in the arts, sciences, and applied sciences.

LaGuardia Community College was established on January 22, 1967, by a vote of the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, a predecessor of the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York. The new college, originally designated as "Community College Number Nine," was to be comprehensive: "The college will be oriented to the needs and interests of the community in which it is located, providing cultural activities, special services, continuing education, and skills training opportunities for residents of all ages."

Joseph Shenker, who had served as acting president of Kingsborough Community College and was, at age 29, the youngest president of a community college, was the institution's first president. In October 1970, breaking with CUNY's geographic naming convention, the Board of Higher Education named the new college after Mayor LaGuardia, citing his "lifelong public service to the people of New York City and the United States, and his ambitious and successful leadership of good government campaigns to provide decent living conditions and guarantee democratic processes for all."

The institution was formally inaugurated on September 22, 1971, and gained its first accreditation from the Middle States Association in December 1972, when its first graduating class got their diplomas.

1982 saw the establishment of the La Guardia and Wagner Archives on campus.

Since 2012, the institution has collaborated with the Wikipedia community to sponsor several educational initiatives and conferences.