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While many students attend community college to gain the knowledge and skills to land a good job and start a fulfilling trade or career, a two-year college also serves as a streamlined, cost-effective springboard for those interested in moving on to a four-year university. To that end, the California Community Colleges and the Cal State University system have partnered to create the Transfer Success Pathway, a dual-admission program that guarantees qualified students a place at the CSU and the major of their choice while still enrolled in community college. A leader in this endeavor, Santiago Canyon College was recently named one of the top 5 of the 116 California community colleges for student participation in the program. Students who enter the pathway receive support from the Cal State system through pre-admission counseling from CSU staffers and access to the Transfer Planner Portal, an online resource that assists in the process of moving to one of the 22 CSU schools. SCC has been equally supportive, thanks to its Transfer Center, which assists students seeking to transition to four-year universities. Although the CSU Transfer Success Pathway is geared for those entering community college straight out of high school, “It’s not just for those who graduated last June,” said Macey Lachman, SCC counselor and faculty lead of the Transfer Center. “However, we’re focusing our outreach and marketing on the 2025 graduates because they meet the eligibility.” Along with students who have never earned any college credit, other eligible students include those who took dual-enrollment coursework while still in high school, as well as those who took college courses during the summer immediately after high school graduation. Students who enter into the TSP agreement with the Cal State system — within a prescribed “agreement cycle” that runs annually from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31 — must meet the above criteria and, within three years, complete the requirements specific to the chosen CSU school and selected major. “The required coursework for this program varies according to which agreement they’re entering into,” Lachman said. “Some schools have very specific classes the student has to take to be eligible for the Transfer Success Pathway. … For students starting this semester, they’re on track to transfer as late as the fall of 2028 if they want to be within the TSP criteria.” Applications for admission into a CSU school are done through Cal State Apply (calstate.edu/apply). Since this could be a daunting task, SCC’s Transfer Center furnishes related workshops and one-on-one help. “Our assistance goes beyond the application and deals with the next steps,” Lachman said. “I like to think of our help as ‘translating.’ For example, we translate emails. We help students understand what’s being communicated and what’s being asked of them. Maybe they need to send transcripts or verify certain information. That’s a big part of how our center helps students.” Support also includes assistance with the CSU Transfer Planner. “Because this is a newer tool, sometimes it has sticking points that can be confusing,” Lachman said. “We’ve realized that students can benefit from support in getting them signed up and then walking them through it.” Along with general transfer advising and university application assistance, SCC’s Transfer Center furnishes one-on-one counseling, workshops and appointments with four-year-university reps (in person and via Zoom), transfer fairs, help with university research and campus tours. For example, last month the Transfer Center facilitated a tour of Cal State Fullerton, including transportation to and from the university. A key factor behind SCC’s top 5 placement in Transfer Success Pathway student participation has been the college’s commitment to increasing program awareness. “In the past, we’ve sent out emails and text messages to students,” Lachman said. “But our numbers were still not where we wanted them to be. So this year, the Transfer Center has partnered with SCC’s Outreach Team, which hosts the Summer Advantage Academy, a conference-style event for new students every August where they attend sessions based on their interest or major. In our workshop, we helped students apply for their TSP with Cal State.” The college has also taken a more hands-on approach in helping students throughout the process. “This year, we’re going to be case managing this cohort of students, those entering into the TSP agreement this fall,” Lachman said. “We’re already developing comprehensive education plans for them, helping to build out their two-year roadmap of what classes to take so they can meet their goal of transferring to their chosen Cal State school in their particular major. “And we’re reaching out to students, not just waiting for them to come to us, to let them know about the resources available and to get them in for counseling. Cal State will also host related events, and we’ll be keeping students updated about those as well.”
