The California State University is dedicated to uplifting the communities of California and the nation through life-changing education. To increase access to education and address the state's workforce needs, the CSU is actively collaborating with the California Community Colleges (CCCs) to create educational pathways and degree opportunities in high demand areas like health care and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
A Smooth Transition
The CSU has been working with its community college partners for decades to provide a smoother transfer process for students.
The Associate Degree for Transfer, introduced in 2010, is a joint program between the CSU and California Community Colleges to ease the transfer process. It guarantees admission to a CSU for community college students who earn at least 60 of the 120 credits needed for a bachelor's degree in a specific major.
In 2023, the university launched the CSU Transfer Planner online portal, offering a centralized resource for community college students to research CSU campuses and degree programs and track their transferable units to minimize credit loss and keep them on track for their transfer goals.
In addition, the Transfer Success Pathway is a dual admission program with the community colleges that guarantees future CSU admission to eligible students who are entering a California community college and who commit to transferring within three years. The program launched in fall 2023 and opens for community college students to enter an agreement each fall. Students who are interested in a particular CSU major and campus can secure a guaranteed spot once they complete the requirements of their Transfer Success Pathway agreement. Students can map out their coursework using the CSU Transfer Planner portal to ensure they're on track.
In addition, individual CSUs have signed dozens of agreements with local community colleges to help those students transfer to the campus, many of which include guaranteed admission, dual admission and clear degree pathways.
Through such agreements, CSU staff will also work with students while they are still at the community college, offering workshops and advising to help them begin the transfer process and apply to the CSU.
2+2 Programs Streamline Transfer Process
In addition, the CSU and the community colleges have worked together to develop educational pathways, often called 2+2 programs, that allow students to seamlessly transfer from a community college to a CSU to complete their bachelor's degree.
For example, CSin3 is a cohort-based program developed in partnership between Cal State Monterey Bay and Hartnell College, allowing students to earn an Associate's Degree in Computer Science from Hartnell College and a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from CSUMB in three years. Participating students complete the program together in a cohort, can cross-enroll in both schools, benefit from academic and professional support throughout the program, follow a specially designed course schedule, register early, and receive financial assistance. Since the first cohort launched in 2013, 202 students have graduated from the program, with 68% having graduated in three years and more than 70% of graduates employed in the industry.
Launched in fall 2024, the Cal Poly 2+2 Sociology Program offered at Allan Hancock College allows transfer students to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo without commuting to the university. While students in the program complete the course work at the Allan Hancock College campus, they have full access to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo services, including library resources, advising and career support, many of which are available virtually.
Fresno State is partnered with Bullard High School, Fresno Community College, Clovis Community College and San Joaquin College of Law on the Central Valley Scholars Law Pathway, a 2+2+3 program that aims to provide pathways for students to earn law degrees. The program provides students with a clear path to a law degree, with two years at the community college, two years at Fresno State and three years at San Joaquin College of Law.
Partnerships Focusing on Workforce Needs: Nursing and Teaching
CSU partnerships with community colleges are particularly beneficial for accelerating students' path to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Twenty CSUs provide Associate Degrees in Nursing (ADN)-to-BSN tracks, the majority of which offer hybrid and online program options. In addition, 15 CSUs work with 37 community colleges to provide concurrent enrollment nursing programs, which allow students to earn their ADN and BSN degrees in three years—the fastest route to a BSN degree for community college students. Notably, these pathways do not have waiting lists.
For example, the Tri-County Nursing Pathway, which involves Cal State Fullerton, Cal State San Bernardino and Riverside City College, offers a concurrent enrollment program for full-time nursing students to earn a BSN within six month to a year after graduating with an ADN. The CSU courses are offered in online and hybrid formats, and in-person courses will be held at Riverside City College.
To further address California's nursing shortage, the CSU and Compton College launched an effort called the Los Angeles County Nursing 2035 initiative that brings together education and health care leaders to focus on nursing education in Los Angeles County. Now involving the Los Angeles Regional Consortium of the county's 19 community colleges, the initiative will begin with a data-driven report featuring workforce projections, strategic goals and recommendations. The overall goal will be to expand nursing education and clinical practice capacity in California and develop a career pipeline for nursing students through CSU-CCC partnerships.
“California is the most populous and diverse state in the nation, and because of that, the CSU is a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of students from every ethnic and socioeconomic background imaginable," CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in the press release. "We are committed to strengthening partnerships with community colleges and industry leaders to ensure seamless transfer pathways for nursing students and to expand the capacity of the CSU's BSN programs across the Golden State."
Similar CCC-CSU partnerships are increasing the number of quality educators serving California. The PAVE Toolkit: Pathways for Advancing Visionary Educators aims to enhance educator pathway programs between CSUs and community colleges. Currently, 115 community colleges offer early childhood and elementary education as well as other educator preparation pathways that are transferable to 22 CSUs. The toolkit will outline actionable themes that will allow the CSU and community colleges to leverage, scale and replicate existing successes in educator pathways and streamline the transfer process for students.
A significant concern within the educator preparation space is the concept of “teacher deserts," small and remote regions of California where there is a lack of teachers and teacher preparation programs. The CSU is helping address teacher deserts through CalStateTEACH, the systemwide online program that allows all students a chance to earn a multiple subject teaching credential no matter their location. In addition, San Diego State offers an educator preparation program at its Imperial Valley campus, an area that has been identified as a teacher education desert, and the CSU provides fully online educator preparation programs at four of its universities: East Bay, Humboldt, Sacramento and Stanislaus.
Community College Bachelor's Degrees
In 2021, the passage of AB 927 authorized the community colleges to offer applied bachelor's degrees in areas not already offered by the CSU or the University of California system, such as Respiratory Therapy, Dental Hygiene and Automotive Technology. By providing applied degree programs that are not currently offered in the CSU, the California Community Colleges bachelor's degree programs expand educational opportunities for students of all backgrounds.
The higher education systems have collaborated closely on the consultation process for developing these degree programs. To date, the legislation has enabled the development of 47 community college baccalaureate programs.
Learn more about the CSU’s partnerships with the California Community Colleges at the ThinkBIG resource page.