NEWS

Guaranteed Transfer Program

The presidents and chancellors of 15 colleges and universities who are members of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium have teamed up to improve the number of Valley students who earn their associate’s and bachelor’s degrees.

The new effort was announced at a press conference on April 12. “This is a landmark event,” said Fresno State President John D. Welty, who is also president of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. “The new Central Valley Guaranteed Transfer Program will put participating students at partnering community colleges on the right path to completing their associate’s degree and guarantee them admission to any of the six four-year universities in the Valley who also are taking part in the program.” 

The program is especially aimed at high school students who will be entering community colleges in the fall of 2005 and beyond. 

While other transfer agreements exist, this program will provide a unified community college transfer curriculum. It also represents a one-of-a-kind transfer agreement, including guaranteed admission, between colleges and universities in an entire region. Funding for this initiative has come from The James Irvine Foundation.

To be guaranteed admission to participating four-year universities, students must complete the specified courses, maintain the required grade point average (a 2.4 GPA for CSU campuses at Bakersfield, Fresno and Stanislaus and 2.8 GPA for Fresno Pacific University, UC Merced and University of the Pacific), and correctly follow the application procedures and deadlines for admission. 

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, established in March 2000, is a nonprofit organization aimed at promoting programs, policies and performance designed to increase higher education attainment in the 10-county area including Fresno, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Mariposa, Madera, Kings, Tulare, and Kern. The consortium comprises 24 public and private institutions of higher education from Stockton to Bakersfield. For more information, call  292-0576 or visit: www.CollegeNext.org.