Why Transfer Students Should Consider UC

Community college can be a great place to begin your University of California education. In 2004-05, more than 13,000 students transferred from California's community colleges to the University of California, and 30 percent of UC's bachelor degrees were awarded to students who started out at a community college. The University of California is encouraging even more community college students to take this step in the coming years.

The University of California has worked hard in recent years to strengthen its relationships with California's community colleges and to develop programs to help community college students with the transfer process. UC's articulation agreements with all of the California community colleges make it possible for prospective transfer students to select appropriate courses. Junior-level community college students receive priority consideration for admission over other transfer applicants, including those from four-year institutions and UC's own intercampus transfer students. The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) allows prospective transfer students to satisfy the lower-division breadth/general education requirements of any UC campus before transferring.

The campuses also offer a variety of services and programs that facilitate transfer admissions. Some programs assure students admission to a UC campus if they meet specific requirements. Other programs provide support services to transfer applicants.