The first home economics classes at Lane Community College were a part of the Manpower Development Training Act program (MDTA). More classes were added in 1967 and 1968, and the first full-time Home Economics Department staff member was hired in 1969.

At this time, the Child Development Center opened and launched their first vocational program, a one-year certificate program in Child Care Services. In the fall of 1970, two Associate of Science degree programs were offered: Early Childhood Education and Institutional Food Service Supervision.

In 1969 and 1970, the Home Economics Department helped organize the Lane County Chapter of Community Coordinated Child Care (4C's), a federal program developed in 1968 to help meet the growing need for child care. With the help of the 4C's, another child care center was opened in a nearby church in 1970.

Also in 1970, the Home Economics Department published six informational packets for homemakers called Home Economics Learning Packets (HELPs) for Homemakers. The packets were designed to be studied at home in conjunction with instruction from an aide trained by the HELPs coordinator. The topics include clothing choice, child care, grocery shopping, and home energy management.

In the fall of 1988, the Home Economics Department was dismantled and the classes were absorbed by other departments. Early Childhood Education, the Nanny Option, and any other non-food service classes became part of the Health Occupations Department; the Culinary, Food Service and Hospitality Program, which was originally called Institutional Food, became part of the Industrial Technology Department.