Community College is Best Path to University of California

Each year more than two million people enroll in a California Community College. While each student has their own personal goals during their time at community college, many have aspirations to transfer into a four-year university — the most popular of these universities being University of California.

In April of 2018, the UC president and California Community Colleges issued a memorandum of understanding (an “agreement”) that guarantees admission for all CCC students who complete one of the UC pathways and has qualifying GPA.

The GPA standard is set at 2.4 or 2.8 for non-residents. While this base GPA varies between majors, it offers a reasonable expectation for students who want to attend a UC but are unsure if they have the ability to meet the standards.

There are 20 UC Transfer Pathways for the most popular majors that makes it easy for students to ensure they are completing the correct coursework.

No pathway for your major? No problem. Cabrillo College counselor Claudia Hernández recommends working with a counselor to use the website ASSIST.com that will help find the Cabrillo course equivalents to complete the necessary major preparation.

The agreement also states that if the applicant is not admitted to their selected campuses, they will automatically be entered into a Systemwide Transfer Guarantee Pool where they will be offered admission to another campus that has space available in their selected major.

The hopes of this agreement is that it will inspire more CCC students to apply to a UC — and it definitely has. There has been a surge in transfer applicants from CCC to UC since 2019 when the agreement took effect and the numbers continue to rise each year.

When asked her advice to students who may be weary of applying to a UC, Claudia Hernández recommends to get a good understanding of the transfer criteria and never assume that you don’t have a chance.

With this in mind, students should feel more confident in applying for transfer admission into a UC. Take the time to meet with a counselor to work out a transfer plan and see your goals become achievable before your eyes.

Gabrielle Gillette is a Cabrilo College Journalism student covering campus issues.