Long Beach City College (LBCC) has been named a 2021 Champion of Higher Education for the fourth time in five years by the Campaign for College Opportunity during a virtual event today, Nov. 16.

“With the leadership and commitment of LBCC and the Campaign for College Opportunity, the Associate Degree for Transfer pathway is making college dreams a reality for thousands of California students,” said Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD) Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk. “LBCC has also focused on serving those students from historically underserved communities. In the last five years, LBCC has seen the number of Black student transfer increase by 51 percent, and Latinx student transfer increase by 19 percent.”

California Community Colleges have awarded more than 359,000 Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT), with LBCC always a top conferring institution, providing a streamlined pathway between LBCC and the California State University (CSU) system.

“LBCC is honored to receive this distinction,” said LBCCD Interim Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz. “We are very proud of our growth in recent years in awarding ADTs, especially for Black and Latinx students as their completion and transfer rates have continued to improve.”

LBCC was recognized at the Campaign for College Opportunity’s virtual event, Champions of Higher Education Celebration today where student leaders, other California Community Colleges and CSU honorees were joined by hundreds of attendees representing California’s higher education leadership, elected officials, corporate sponsors, and civic and business leaders.

“Long Beach City College’s dedicated leadership in working to ensure a strong transfer pathway on its campuses is why LBCC is being recognized as one of the top performers in total Associate Degrees for Transfers awarded,” said  Michele Siqueiros, President of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “Transforming transfer has been more than 10 years in the making, and with the recent passage of AB 928, it will significantly accelerate the pace of transfer and degree attainment.”

Earning the Associate Degree for Transfer provides a number of benefits for LBCC students planning to transfer to the Cal State University (CSU) system, such as:

• Guaranteed admission into a university within the CSU system with a “similar” major (no guarantee to a specific campus)
• Earn an Associate Degree for completing transfer requirements
• Grants priority consideration when applying to impacted majors and/or campuses
• Guarantees a 60 (LBCC) 60 (CSU) unit pathway to CSU graduation
• Those who earn the ADT, transfer to the CSU with junior status
• ADT degree holders from LBCC earn their Bachelor’s Degrees nearly twice as fast from CSUs

The Campaign has honored California Community College ADT achievements at its annual event since 2016.