UC launches five-year campaign to boost community-college transfers from 69 campuses

The University of California on Wednesday described a new five-year Campaign for Transfer Excellence aimed at increasing the number of students who transfer from 69 California community colleges to UC campuses.

The campaign, presented to the Regents' Academic and Student Affairs Committee by Provost Catherine Newman, targets community colleges that enroll large shares of Pell-eligible, first-generation and underrepresented students and that have relatively low UC‑sending rates. "Over the next 5 years, our goal is to increase by 2,000 the number of students from these community colleges who transfer to a UC campus," Newman said.

Why it matters: UC officials said expanding transfer pathways is intended to improve equity and meet regional workforce needs. Newman said the initiative combines campus-to-college partnerships, advising and curricular alignment with a transfer-focused research agenda to inform future practice.

What UC is doing: Newman credited a $460,000 award from the American Talent Initiative (ATI) for launching the campaign and funding campus partnerships. She said all nine UC campuses are ATI members and that ATI support enabled initial partnership planning and campus-level pilots.

Campus examples: Jody Green, associate campus provost for academic success and professor of literature at UC Santa Cruz, described a partnership with Hartnell College in the Salinas Valley. According to Green, Hartnell serves roughly 9,000 students and transfers about 600 students a year to CSU or UC campuses but has transferred only about 20 students a year to UC Santa Cruz recently. Green said UCSC received a two‑year, $250,000 grant to strengthen pathways, add a student-support specialist, a peer-mentorship program, extended transfer orientation and research and internship opportunities tied to aligned majors. "The overall goal of this program is to double the annual transfers from Hartnell College," Green said.

James Zimmerman, special assistant for transfer initiatives at UC Merced, described the UC Merced program pathways mapper, an online tool that provides interactive curriculum maps and guidance for prospective transfer students. Zimmerman said more than 150 individual curriculum pathway maps have been published connecting UC Merced to 15 of the 69 community colleges identified by UCOP, and he said the project secured $25,000,000 in state funding to scale the program across California public higher education.

Regents' response and questions: Regents praised the work and raised questions about distance barriers and capacity. Regent Park asked when UC Merced could meet a "2 to 1" transfer commitment; Zimmerman cited geographic and logistical challenges for Merced because relevant community colleges can be 90–120 miles away, and he estimated Merced might progress in 2–3 years with sufficient resources. Newman and others noted the campaign emphasizes technology (for example, remote delivery of required math instruction) and occasional campus visits to address distance challenges.

Student-observer perspective: Audrey Jacobs, a UC Davis undergraduate student serving as student observer, urged attention to "college deserts," areas without a four-year university nearby, and referenced the role of AB 928 (the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act) in shaping policy. She argued targeted funding and recruitment can help students in remote areas see transfer as feasible.

What's next: UC officials said campuses will continue to develop local partnerships, publish pathway maps and evaluate pilots. Newman said the campaign will track outcomes and use research to refine practices.

Ending: Committee members expressed support for the multi-campus approach and urged continued attention to funding, counseling capacity and outreach to low‑sending colleges.