Diablo Valley College is one of three publicly supported two-year community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District. The larger of DVC's two campuses is located off I-680 in Pleasant Hill, and the newer San Ramon Campus serves the south county in Dougherty Valley. Between its two campuses, DVC serves more than 22,000 students each semester with a wide variety of program options.

The college officially began in 1949, in some of the most unlikely sites: high schools, banks, churches, even an old army camp. Called East Contra Costa Junior College, it moved to its present site in 1952, in ten steel buildings acquired from the government for $45 each. The cornerstone for the first permanent building was laid in 1953, and the name Diablo Valley College was adopted in 1958.