UC Merced, Yosemite Community College District Launch Transfer Program

UC Merced and the Yosemite Community College District (YCCD) have partnered to further extend access for transfer students in the Central Valley.

By signing the Merced Promise Pathway Program memorandum of understanding, the two institutions give students attending YCCD - which includes Modesto Junior College and Columbia College - a clear, streamlined pathway to UC Merced as well as a multitude of support options to help them prepare for life at a four-year university.

"In transferring into UC Merced, they would have already completed their first two years of undergraduate studies and can now focus on their last two years at UC Merced," said YCCD Chancellor Henry C. V. Yong. "Due to UC Merced's prime location, many will not even have to leave home to attend a UC institution. They will end up saving money on housing, which they could use for their graduate studies."

"In signing this agreement, we honor the original purpose that impelled the UC system to place its newest campus in the Central Valley - a vow to increase college-going rates among the Valley's population, and a promise of progress and a better life," said UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz.

Merced Promise highlights include:

• Review pathways to facilitate an efficient and smooth transition from Modesto Junior College and/or Columbia College to UC Merced.
• Attract, track and retain qualified YCCD transfer students with an aspirational goal to increase transfers to 100 students by 2025.
• Target incoming YCCD first-year students who applied to UC Merced as high school seniors but were not granted admission at that time.
• Develop an online program mapper - a clear, simple-to-use tool to enable students to select their programs of study and accelerate their progress toward completion.
• Develop opportunities for summer undergraduate research projects for community college students who are on track to transfer to UC Merced in their respective fields of study.
• Develop a Yosemite Promise Scholars program for students who meet specified criteria, and for UC Merced to offer financial scholarship packages to attend the university as part of a transfer pathway.

This is the third Merced Promise Pathway partnership between the university and a community college, following agreements signed with Fresno City College and Merced College.