FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday June 17, 2003

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

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

Community College Transfers Continue Strong Five-Year Upward Trend at UC

University of California campuses have admitted 14,665 transfer students from the California Community Colleges for Fall 2003, 7.6 percent more than in 2002. It is the fifth consecutive year with universitywide growth in the number of transfer students.

UC campuses accepted almost eight out of 10 transfer applicants.

California residents accounted for 13,415 of the transfers, 7.2 percent more than in 2002.

All major racial and ethnic groups registered systemwide increases. Underrepresented students (African Americans, American Indians, and Chicano/Latino) increased modestly as a proportion of the total admitted transfer class from 17.8 percent in 2002 to 18.5 percent in 2003. Underrepresented students also increased as a proportion of California resident transfers, up from 19.4 percent in 2002 to 20.4 percent in 2003.

“Attending the California Community Colleges is a great way to come to the University of California,” said UC President Richard C. Atkinson. “I am very pleased to see the steady growth in the number of students taking advantage of the opportunity to continue their education at UC.”

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 Gov. Davis administration.

“The continued growth in transfer admissions to UC is very encouraging," said Thomas J. Nussbaum, chancellor of the California Community Colleges. "The commitments we made, followed up by years of hard work, are producing historic results."

UC is making efforts on a number of fronts to meet the partnership goals, which have resulted in a 26 percent increase in transfer student enrollments since the agreements began. In fact, in the four years since then, UC has averaged yearly enrollment increases of almost six percent, putting it on track to meet the goals called for in the “partnership agreement.” The efforts underway include:

• Statewide UC conferences that bolster community college counselor training. The fall Counselor Conferences and spring Ensuring Transfer Success Counseling Institutes provide community college counselors forums to discuss the most effective ways to help students transfer to UC.
  
  
• Assist, a Web-based planning system for transfer students available online at www.assist.org. Students can use the Web site to see how specific course credits earned at a California community college can be applied to a major at UC or a California State University campus.
  
  
• Academic development programs, such as the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program and Puente Project. These programs cultivate the academic potential of community college students who might not otherwise consider transfer to a UC campus.
  
  
• Outreach programs that encourage qualified applicants 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.
  
  
• Transfer admissions agreements. UC campuses offer a variety of programs in support of transfer admission, many of which guarantee admission to a UC campus for community college students who earn the required grade point average in the appropriate lower-division coursework.
  
  
• UC’s efforts to expand access for community college students will be bolstered even further with the implementation of the Dual Admissions Program beginning in Fall 2004. The program will provide an additional path to the UC system through the community colleges by granting admission at a UC campus to students who are between the top four percent and 12.5 percent of their high school’s graduating senior class, but who are not eligible to attend UC as freshmen. Dual Admission Program students will complete a transfer program at a community college, then transfer to UC to complete baccalaureate requirements.

The community college transfer data are available online at:

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

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