“Degree With a Guarantee” Gives LTCC Students Direct Path to Bachelor’s

Thanks to a new, streamlined transfer program developed by the California Community Colleges and California State University systems, students at Lake Tahoe Community College now have access to more degrees for transfer in a wider variety of disciplines, making it easier for them to transfer to CSU schools and earn their bachelor’s degrees within two years. So far, LTCC is offering eight new transfer degrees, with another five slated to be launched in June 2014.

At the state level, both systems worked diligently to develop an impressive 1,000 new degrees offered at the community college system’s 112 colleges in a way that aligns course requirements for a smoother transfer. “These degrees guarantee admission to CSU, and students are quickly finding this is an attractive path for transfer,” says California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice Harris.

The new “Degree With A Guarantee” program allows LTCC students who complete an Associate in Arts for Transfer or an Associate in Science for Transfer degree with 90 quarter units, the equivalent to 60 semester units, to have priority admission to a CSU program that is similar to their community college major. Once admitted to a CSU school, students only have to complete an additional 60 units (or, two years) to earn their bachelor’s degree.

At LTCC, students can now earn an ADT degree in Anthropology, Business Administration, Administration of Justice, Early Childhood Education, Geology, Mathematics, Psychology, and Sociology. By June 2014, students will also have access to degrees in Kinesiology, Spanish, English, Studio Arts, and Geography. An additional transfer degree in Elementary Education is also being discussed for the future.

“For students transferring to a CSU, they’ll have finished all required freshman and sophomore year coursework while attending our community college,” says LTCC Counselor Pete Dixon, who has spearheaded the effort to get these new transfer degrees through the curriculum approval process and available to students. “For students who come here with a plan and know what they want to achieve here, it’s a great program. They’ll get well prepared here for their field of study, and can get their bachelor’s degree in a timely way.”

Recent LTCC graduate Scot Hamilton earned his ADT degree in Sociology, and is now at CSU Sacramento working on a bachelor’s in the same subject. “I was just looking to get an A.A. degree, and looking to be the first person on either side of my family to just have a degree of any sort,” Hamilton says. “When Pete told me about the degree with a guarantee, I was really interested. School becomes daunting when you don’t really have a path that you’re on.”

For more information about the “Degree With A Guarantee” program and how it might work for you, contact LTCC’s academic counseling staff at (530) 541-4660 ext. 231.