Created in 1962 with one college, the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) currently consists of ten separately accredited colleges. MCCCD is one of the largest community college districts in the United States. In the state of Arizona, GCC is the fifth largest community college by population with 14,400 students attending in 2023.
On April 12, 1965, GCC was established by the Governing Board as the second MCCCD college and charged with serving the higher educational needs of the West Valley. The college started classes in temporary facilities at Camelback and Maryland as an extension of Phoenix College while the permanent campus was constructed. On April 27, 1965, ground broke on the $3.3 million campus in Glendale. In September 1966 the college moved to its current location at 59th and Olive Avenues, taking part of Sahuaro Ranch to establish its campus. In August 1967, the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools first accredited GCC as an individual college.