PCC Number One in CA for Transfers to UC and CSU Systems

INSIDE OUR SCHOOLS

Students at PCC working together as they look into microscopes (Photo – pasadena.edu)

Pasadena City College (PCC) is the number one school in California for transfers to California State University and University of California, according to data released by the UC President’s Office and the CSU system,

Pasadena City College sent 2,321 students to these universities in Spring and Fall 2019. It was also the top college in the state for transfers to the CSUs, with 1,506 students moving from Pasadena to universities throughout the system. The top destinations for PCC transfers were CSU Los Angeles, CSU Northridge, and Cal Poly Pomona.

PCC also ranked highly in degrees granted to minority students, according to data gathered by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education for the 2017-18 academic year:

• Ranked 1^st in California and 5^th in the Nation in minority students earning associate degrees.
• Showed the strongest year-to-year growth in this metric, at 31 percent.
• Placed 1^st in California and in 1^st in the Nation in the number of degrees awarded to Asian American students.
• Held the top spot in California in the number of degrees awarded to Latinx students.

Erika Endrijonas, PCC superintendent/president, said:

These figures affirm what our community already knows: no one can compare to PCC for academic achievement. We have been working tirelessly in recent years to streamline our curriculum, reduce barriers, and support our students in their educational goals. The numbers we see today prove that our approach is working.

PCC was honored in December as the state’s top granter of ADTs in the 2017-18 academic year. The college currently offers 32 Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADTs), the “degree with a guarantee” that the CSUs and community colleges launched in 2012 to simplify transfers between the two systems. In the eight years of its existence the ADT has gone on to be accepted at private institutions, including historically Black colleges and universities, and it forms a framework for UC transfers as well.

Partnerships

PCC is growing its partnerships with private colleges and universities as well. Pasadena students go on to attend USC, Azusa Pacific University, and other prestigious institutions, and the college has had four students transfer to Yale University in the last five years.

The college has also garnered attention for the performance of its students following their move to a four-year institution. As a national Aspen Prize Top Ten Community College in 2019, PCC stood out with more than half of its transfer students completing their bachelor’s degrees, well above the national average.

James Osterling, president of the board of trustees, said:

It’s thrilling to see that PCC is having such an impact on its students. We are clearly bringing value to our community, and we’re so fortunate to help so many folks open the gateway to universities right here in Pasadena.

Source: pasadena.edu