The DCCCD is comprised of seven colleges located strategically throughout Dallas County. Anyone in Dallas County has only a short drive, bus or train ride to reach the nearest college.

More than three decades of growth and progress are a credit to the vision of Dallas area citizens. In May, 1965, Dallas County voters created the Dallas County Junior College District and approved a $41.5 million bond issue to finance it. The next year, El Centro College began serving students in downtown Dallas. Eastfield College in Mesquite and Mountain View College in southwest Dallas enrolled their first students in 1970. Richland College opened two years later in north Dallas.

An additional $85 million in bonds supported the DCCCD's expansion and the construction began on three more colleges. Cedar Valley College in Lancaster and North Lake College in Irving opened in 1977, followed by Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch in 1978.

In addition to the colleges, the DCCCD also operates the Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development and the R. Jan LeCroy Center for Educational Telecommunications, named for former DCCCD chancellors. The Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development opened south of downtown Dallas in 1989, serving individuals and businesses of all sizes with training programs customized to meet their needs. The LeCroy Center is one of the largest producers of distance education products in the nation.

Accreditation
Each of the Dallas County Community College District's seven colleges — Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake, and Richland — is individually accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097: Telephone number 404-679-4501) to award the associate degree. The official statement of accreditation for each college is published in that college's individual catalog.