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University of California Unveils Guaranteed Transfer Plan

The University of California announced its first-ever systemwide admission guarantee for qualified transfer student applicants—but the plan doesn’t guarantee access to particular campuses.

The proposal states that to receive an admission guarantee, community college students would need to complete a new unified set of general education courses required by both UC and California State University, complete specific coursework needed for UC majors, and earn a minimum GPA. Those who aren’t admitted to the campus of their choice would be offered a spot at UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced or UC Riverside, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Officials say the goal is to simplify the transfer path and allows students to better understand the requirements needed to gain admission.

“The key to transfer is to ask of students only what they need to do and not more,” Susan Cochran, chair of the UC systemwide Academic Senate, says. “We think this proposal … is a positive step forward for simplifying transfers and helping UC meet its responsibilities to the people of the state of California.”

UC TRANSFER APPS HAVE PLUNGED IN RECENT YEARS

In the past few years, UC and CSU schools have struggled with keeping transfer applications up as community college enrollments have declined. Transfer applications have dropped across every campus, declining systemwide to 39,363 for fall 2023 from 46,155 for fall 2021.

The new proposal comes amid a debate over Governor Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal that called on UCLA to adopt a transfer guarantee program or face a $20-million cut in state funding.

Still, some argue that the UC proposal fails to simplify the transfer pathway as it only guarantees admission to the system, not to specific campuses.

“California must demystify the transfer pathway for students. While we appreciate University of California leadership for their openness to a long overdue systemwide transfer guarantee, the newly proposed UC transfer pathway only adds to the complexity and confusion around transfer,” Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, says.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Inside Higher Ed

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