The Palomar College GIS program started in 2004.  At the time, a 14-16 unit certificate of proficiency was offered, and 5 GIS courses were offered by the Earth, Space, and Aviation Science department. It has since expanded to offer a certificate of proficiency (14 units), a certificate of achievement (20 units), and an associate of science degree in GIS (60 units). It currently offers 12 different courses in GIS, offering instruction in topics such as modelbuilder, python scripting, remote sensing, WebGIS, and spatial statistics.