Twenty-one California State University campuses were named 2021 Champions of Higher Education for their commitment to ensuring community college students have a strong pathway into the CSU.
The announcements were made at The Campaign for College Opportunity's annual Champions of Higher Education and Equity Champions for Excellence in Transfer awards ceremony in November 2021.
The Campaign for College Opportunity is a nonprofit organization devoted to ensuring that all Californians have an equal opportunity to attend and succeed in college.
“This year, we worked with national experts to create an equity framework that would analyze how each of our campuses are doing in terms of transfer, with specific attention to closing gaps for Black and Latinx students," said Michele Siqueiros, president of The Campaign for College Opportunity.
“We are celebrating the campuses that have been very intentional at ensuring that transfer works for students who are typically underrepresented in the [transfer] pathways."
The awards are a testament to the success of the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) program. CSU campuses were recognized in three categories:
Excellence in Transfer
For leading the state and working with intentionality to support community college students through the ADT.
- Fresno
- Fullerton
- Long Beach
- Pomona
Excellence in Transfer – Black and Latinx Students
For leading the state and working with intentionality to support Black and Latinx students through the ADT.
- East Bay
- Fresno
- San Bernardino
- San Marcos
- San José
Excellence in Transfer – Latinx Students
For leading the state and working with intentionality to support Latinx students through the ADT.
- Bakersfield
- Channel Islands
- Chico
- Dominguez Hills
- Fullerton
- Humboldt
- Long Beach
- Los Angeles
- Monterey Bay
- Northridge
- Pomona
- Sacramento
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Sonoma
- Stanislaus
Since 2012, ADT has made it easier for California Community Colleges (CCC) students to transfer to the CSU. The CSU-CCC joint program awards associate degrees and guarantees a CSU campus admission to community college students who earn at least 60 of the 120 units needed for a bachelor's degree in a specific major.
For many students, especially first-generation and underrepresented minorities who lack guidance on navigating college, ADT provides them with a clearly defined pathway to a bachelor's degree.
Students transferring with an ADT earn their degree in less time than their peers – 55 percent of ADT students graduate within two years, compared to 40 percent for those who transferred without an ADT.
Today, nearly 40 percent of the CSU's undergraduate student population transferred from California Community Colleges.
The CSU is committed to increasing additional opportunities for transfer students and supported legislation recently signed by Governor Newsom that will provide an even smoother path to the CSU. Assembly Bill 928, the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021, creates a single general education (GE) pathway for students to transfer from a California Community College to the CSU. It also opens opportunities for students to enroll in more major preparation course in STEM and business – as well as allows for the development of more STEM ADT pathways to high unit fields like engineering, computer science, chemistry, biology, physics and business.