Transfer Admission Agreements

In California, if community college students take certain courses and get a certain GPA (usually 2.8 or 3.0 or higher) they can pursue programs that guarantee admission to select four year universities. Not all four year insitituions offer such a program, but many do. Some majors, such as engineering or business, may also limit the availability of guaranteed slots. The key to these programs is identifying early in one's community college career that they want to transfer to a particular school (or two) in a particular major. Once this has been identified students can go to their community college's transfer center to find out if there exists a transfer agreement with the schools they are interested in. As I mentioned, not all four year institutions participate in such programs because the demand would far exceed available space, but many do.

In the University of California, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, and UC Riverside have active agreement or guarantee programs. As an example of what one Transfer Admission Agreement program looks like, see UC Davis. In the California State University, many CSUs have guarantee or agreement programs. It is imperative to check with the community college you plan on attending to find out what campuses they have agreemements with. If you really want to go to a particular school, purusing an agreement brings a sense of comfort and accomplishment. Outside of California, many community colleges partner with local four year institutions to ensure a healthy flow of students from the community college to the universities. As always, those who ask are rewarded. Don't wait until the last minute to inquire. People at the community colleges are there to help students be successful. Community colleges guage success in many ways, one of them being the number of students who transfer to four year universities.