[2] The Mission College Interim Campus was housed on the site of the vacant Jefferson Middle School at the corner of Monroe Street and Lawrence Express in Santa Clara, California in early September, 1975.

From this humble beginning, three members originally appointed for full-time duty—Teri Chiang (Mathematics), Don Joslen (Fine Arts), and Son Le (Philosophy)) worked with Administrator Burt Hermosillo with the support of several part-time faculty volunteers from West Valley College to offer morning and evening classes.

Notably, among a handful of graduates for Mission College Class '77 was Eddie Sousa, who was later elected mayor of Santa Clara.

[3] The first piece of the Mission College Interim Campus construction plan was completed during 1979, which is also the start of the 1979–80 academic year, which enrolled about 3,500 students, 8 administrators, and 73 instructors.

The college has hosted a number of speakers, including Pulitzer Prize winning author Sonia Nazario,[4] Civil Rights activist Cornel West,[5] Tuskegee Airman Les Williams,[6] and former Santa Clara Assistant District Attorney Rolanda Pierre Dixon.

The district serves the cities of Saratoga, Campbell, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, Monte Sereno, Santa Clara, and San Jose.

The Hospitality Management building includes the "Mission Bistro", which serves lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the Fall and Spring semesters.

[11] Gillmor was the city's first elected mayor and helped facilitate the land sale that eventually became Mission College.

[12] Its parking lot hosts 2,640 high-efficiency SunPower solar panels, which are estimated to save the college $9 million in the next 25 years following 2011.

While the new main building is under construction, VTA bus lines 57[17] and 60[18] stop in a section in the college's parking lot.