Addressing Student-Centered Transfer Reform in Los Angeles

"California's community college-to-four-year university transfer pipeline has not delivered the outcomes students need. While 80 percent of community college students intend to transfer, just 19 percent reach a California State University campus within four years. The gap is stark. While there have been numerous statewide efforts to define clear pathways to California State University and the University of California, time and time again it's taken local innovation and collaboration between sending and receiving colleges to make a real difference."

"CSUN Connections went further than traditional reverse-transfer models by helping disengaged students seamlessly transfer their credits to a partnering community college, apply them to an A.D.T. when available and then transfer back to CSUN to complete their bachelor's with all the benefits of an associate degree. This work required us to take stock of the student data and identify where institutional and systemwide policy bar"

California's community college-to-four-year transfer pipeline yields poor outcomes: 80 percent of community college students intend to transfer, but only 19 percent reach a CSU campus within four years. Local innovation and cross-institution collaboration have produced meaningful improvements where statewide efforts fell short. In Los Angeles, collaborators focused on implementing the associate degree for transfer (A.D.T.), a 2+2 pathway guaranteeing CSU admission and an efficient path to graduation. Cross-sector collaboratives convened by UNITE-LA stewarded nearly a decade of work. In 2017 UNITE-LA convened CSUN, the L.A. Community College District, and other universities to re-engage stopped-out students and launch California's first reverse-transfer program. CSUN Connections enables seamless credit transfers, application of credits to A.D.T.s, and return to CSUN to complete bachelor's degrees while addressing institutional and systemwide policy barriers.

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