Emily Mather
City Times

City College’s higher then average transfer rate has caught the attention of the Transfer Leadership Center (TLC), who has featured San Diego City College in their most comprehensive case study to date.

Administered by the California Community College Chancellor’s office, Santa Barbra City College, the RP Group’s Center for Student Success and California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-Pass), City College is participating as one of the top seven two-to-four year California Community Colleges with a consistently higher than average transfer rate according to a cohort study conducted by the State Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges.

In the course of the study, visits to City College, interviews, and focus groups with students, counselors, faculty, administrators, and high school counselors were conducted to conclude the many common factors that lead to high transfer rates. Common factors such as, determining a prospective student’s educational goals by their career interests, having an enthusiastic and caring faculty, classes and programs that address and promote further transfer for students to move forward, and an honors program that has alliances with twelve universities.

When discussing vocational education and transfer, City College’s Vice President of Instruction Mary Benard states they are of “equal importance, high priority for us.”

“We’re a dream incubator, and our students come with a lot of different needs. We’re a classic community college. We meet students where they are.” Added Vice President for Student Services Peter White.

City College President Terrence Burgess said that support of transfer as “part of my being,” emphasizes the growing interest in incoming transferring students and currently enrolled students looking to transfer on to one of the eleven four year Universities that visit SDCC on a regular basis. When asked what improvements would be made to support transfer rates, most responses dealt with the need for additional counseling staff.

City College’s presidential support of transfer, Transfer/Career Center, caring faculty that are committed to success and communication with students, and linking career interests of the student to their course planning has brought an overall supported increase in transfer rates that will be continually evaluated and improved as long as students transfer.