The citizens of Napa County made a clear commitment to higher education in 1941 when they passed a bond issue to establish Napa Junior College. One year later, in 1942, Napa Junior College was founded as part of Napa Union High School district. The first year of World War II marked the college’s first class – of  just 16 students, only one of whom was male. Once the war was over, GIs flooded into the new college seeking educational opportunity. During 1948-49, a modern new college was built next to the high school.