Community College Transfers Increase at UC for Fourth Straight Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday June 5, 2002

Media contacts:
Lavonne Luquis
(510) 987-9194
lavonne.luquis@ucop.edu

Hanan Eisenman
(510) 587-6194
hanan.eisenman@ucop.edu

Community College Transfers Increase at UC for Fourth Straight Year

University of California campuses have admitted 13,627 transfer students from the California Community Colleges for Fall 2002, 3.8 percent more than in 2001. It is the fourth year in a row with systemwide growth in the number of transfer students.

UC campuses accepted eight out of ten transfer applicants.

California residents accounted for 12,516 of the transfers, 2.4 percent more than in the previous year.

These numbers, however, do not reflect the full transfer picture for 2002-03. Unlike freshmen, transfer students enroll throughout the academic year. UC expects to enroll 15 to 20 percent of this year's transfer students during the winter and spring quarters.

"Working with the California Community Colleges, we are making good progress in expanding access to the University of California for transfer students," said UC President Richard C. Atkinson. "The community colleges are a wonderful place for many students to begin a UC career. I am hopeful that, with the ultimate funding and implementation of our Dual Admissions Program, the increases we have been seeing will become even larger."

UC's "Dual Admissions" program was put on hold in 2001 due to lack of funding from the State. It would have provided an additional path for students to enter the UC system through the community colleges by granting admission at a UC campus to students between the top 4 percent and 12.5 percent of their high school's graduating class, provided they first complete a transfer program at a community college. This program would also provide additional counseling resources to students working towards transfer.

Expanding community college transfers to UC was defined as a goal in a 1997 Memorandum of Understanding between the University of California and the California Community Colleges, and again in a subsequent "partnership agreement" of mutual commitments between UC and the Davis administration. UC's historic transfer rate is approximately 3 percent.

UC is making efforts on a number of fronts to meet these partnership goals, which have resulted in a 9.6 percent increase in transfer students since UC entered into the agreements. These efforts include:

ASSIST, a Web-based planning system for transfer students. By logging on to the Internet at www.assist.org students can see how specific course credits earned at a California community college can be applied to a major at UC or the California State University system.
Academic development programs, such as MESA and Puente. These programs cultivate the academic potential of community college students who might not otherwise consider transfer to a UC campus.
Outreach programs which identify qualified applicants and encourage them to transfer to UC. For example, representatives from UC visit community college campuses regularly and offer individualized advising sessions that help students stay focused on their transfer goals.
Statewide efforts to bolster community college counselor training. The fall Counselor Conferences and spring Ensuring Transfer Success Counseling Institutes offer community college counselors an opportunity to discuss the most effective ways to help students transfer to UC.
Transfer admission agreements. These contracts guarantee admission to a UC campus for community college students who earn the required grade point average in the appropriate lower-division coursework.

The community college transfer data are available online at:

Table 1 - California resident transfers from California Community Colleges
Table 2 - All transfers from California Community Colleges

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