Pasadena City College Honored as “Champion for Higher Education”
Pasadena City College Honored as “Champion for Higher Education”
College leads the state in Associate Degrees for Transfer for third year running
PASADENA, Nov. 19, 2020—For the fifth year in a row, Pasadena City College has been recognized as a “Champion for Higher Education” by the Campaign for College Opportunity.
As it has been every year since 2016, PCC was honored by the advocacy group for the college’s success in granting Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADTs), a specialized series of credentials that streamline students’ transfer to four-year universities.
According to data collected by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, PCC awarded 2,410 ADTs in the 2019-2020 academic year, more than any other community college – and nearly 900 more than in 2018-19.
This is the third consecutive year that PCC has led the state.
When ADTs were created through SB 1440 in 2010, they connected California’s community colleges to the California State University system. Since then, the transfer pathway has widened to include some University of California institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, and other private colleges and universities.
“We are so thrilled to join our colleagues across the state and celebrate this achievement,” said Erika Endrijonas, PCC’s superintendent/president. “Transfer is at the heart of what we do for our community, and these ADTs are a key part of our service in that area. California has 10 years of service through the ADT, and we’re only getting started.”
PCC currently offers more than 30 ADTs in a broad range of subjects, and the college has issued nearly 8,500 of the credentials since they were first granted in 2011.
The most recent honors were delivered at a virtual event hosted by the Campaign for College Opportunity Thursday, Nov. 19. Among the speakers were Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Asm. Marc Berman, as well as Elizabeth Moreno, a PCC alumna and current Cal Poly student in psychology. In her remarks Ms. Moreno paid tribute to her PCC counselors for her success.
In other recent news, PCC was highlighted by the magazine Diverse Issues in Higher Education in its annual summary of colleges that advance diversity. PCC is now No. 3 in the nation in granting degrees to students of minority backgrounds, up from No. 5. In addition, Diverse’s data show that the college is No. 6 nationally (and No. 1 in California) for granting degrees to Latinx students and No. 2 nationally and in the state in degrees to Asian American students (behind Golden West College).