New Plan Could Affect Transfers to UCLA

You may have seen an article in the LA Times about a possible change in direction at California community colleges.  UCLA says about 40% of its graduates (undergrads) are transfer students.  Not all of these transfers come from California community colleges, however.  But poking around on the web suggests that around 90% of them are from the state's community college system.

The original Master Plan viewed community colleges as colleges of last resort.  Anyone with a high school degree could enroll.  (Indeed, some enrollees may not have high school degrees.)  If an enrollee got on an academic track (some courses offered are vocational/2-year terminal or recreational), he/she could transfer to a CSU or UC campus.  The reality is that many students don’t get that far.  Some community colleges seem to be more effective than others at producing transfers.

What the Times article refers to is a report – cover shown at right above - that proposes that community colleges in effect prioritize and focus on students who are making tangible progress toward transfer.  The Times story is at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-community-colleges-20120110,0,5859282.story

The actual report which will go to the legislature is at:

http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/StudentSuccessTaskForce/SSTF_FinalReport_Web_010312.pdf

Data on 2011 transfers to UCLA are at:

http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof11.htm

(Note that there is a difference between applicants, accepted applicants, and actual enrollees in the UCLA report.)

A more detailed analysis of the issue than appeared in the LA Times is at:

http://toped.svefoundation.org/2012/01/10/sweeping-changes-okd-for-community-colleges/