SALINAS VALLEY — The Campaign for College Opportunity has honored Hartnell College as a 2022 Equity Champion of Higher Education for breaking barriers in transfer, advancing racial equity and improving degree completion for its students.
The Salinas campus is now one of the leading institutions in the state for Associate Degree for Transfer implementation for Black, Latinx or both Black and Latinx students — helping the state make college dreams a reality for thousands of students.
Transfer from a community college to a four-year university continues to be a bureaucratic, inconsistent and confusing maze, where students must parse through a system with varied information and requirements for each campus. Though transfer is often thought of as a two-year process, under 3% of students at California Community Colleges transfer after two years, and only 23% after four years.
One key effort that is clearing the transfer pathway is the Associate Degree for Transfer. In 2010, with then-California State Sen. Alex Padilla, the Campaign for College Opportunity sponsored historic transfer reform legislation that created a clear pathway for students to earn an associate degree with guaranteed admission and junior standing into the CSU system.
The ADT has ensured students can transfer without accumulating excess units, saving them time and money. To date, the California Community Colleges have awarded over 426,000 ADTs.
Transfer students with an ADT who enroll in the CSU on a guaranteed pathway are more likely to graduate and accumulate fewer units, earning their bachelor’s degree in less time compared to other students.
“This year, we celebrate the 30 California Community Colleges and California State Universities that are truly shaping the transfer experience for students through faithful implementation of the ADT,” said Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “That is exactly what the ADT set out to do in its creation over a decade ago, and we commend each campus for their dedication to serving students and for securing a brighter economy for our state.”
The Campaign for College Opportunity is a California nonprofit bipartisan policy and research organization focused on a single mission: to ensure all Californians have an equal opportunity to attend and succeed in college in order to build a vibrant workforce, economy and democracy. For more information, visit CollegeCampaign.org.
