OAKLAND, CALIF. — The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees voted 4-2 to merge Laney College and Merritt College into a single institution named Oakland City College, effective fall 2027. Both colleges will continue to operate at their existing physical campuses.

Stefani Devito, a mental health clinician at Merritt, said the implementation timeline posed challenges. "Operationally, from my ground-level perspective, we cannot do what needs to be done to become Oakland City College in time for fall 2027 enrollment," Devito said.

Enrollment at Laney decreased from 17,698 students in the 2019–20 academic year to 9,828 in the 2024–25 academic year. Merritt also saw a decrease in enrollment, from 11,856 in 2019–20 to 7,195 in 2024–25, according to district records. The district operates four colleges within a nine-mile radius and previously laid off staff in the previous fiscal year. The district has operated with budget deficits for more than ten years but projects it will meet its budget for the next two years.

A petition opposing the merger has collected over 300 signatures. The petition states the merger could cost the district at least $3 million annually. Merritt bioscience professor Gisele Giorgi commented that unresolved issues remain. Giorgi said. "There are so many questions still left unanswered. We really need to plan better. If we’re going to do this thing, we need to do it really well."

Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson addressed the motivation behind the merger. "This is all about students and a community that I love, and for a district to meet the mission that it set out to do and be able to do it thoughtfully and responsibly," Gilkerson said. Berkeley City College and College of Alameda, two other institutions within the district, will remain separate entities. Laney and Merritt colleges previously merged in 1954 under the name Oakland Community College, were renamed Oakland City College in 1958, and then separated into two colleges in 1964.