Loyola Marymount University has signed its first-ever guaranteed transfer agreement with a community college district. The pact, reached with the San Mateo County Community College District, allows SMCCC students that meet specific academic qualifications to gain automatic admission to LMU.
The goal of the agreement is to encourage well-prepared students to transfer from SMCCCD’s trio of colleges – Skyline College, College of San Mateo, and Cañada College – to LMU, while alleviating concerns over course transferability and admission feasibility.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment for LMU and a testament to our commitment to enhancing the transfer-student experience,” said Tom Gutto, LMU’s director of Transfer Enrollment Services. “Providing access to community college students has long been an important component of our strategic mission and Jesuit tradition.”
LMU currently boasts a strong transfer profile, with 62 percent of its 375 new enrollees for the 2016-17 school year coming from community colleges. LMU administrators hope to reach similar agreements with community college districts across the state and beyond.
Jing Luan, Ph.D., president of SMCCC and provost for international affairs, said the LMU agreement fits the direction the district has been pursuing.
“San Mateo Colleges of Silicon Valley is honored to have another prestigious university, LMU, joining our network of universities offering guaranteed transfer to our students. Our three colleges attract students from over 80 countries from as far as Africa and South America. They come seeking an elite transfer education and the assurance of guaranteed transfer to selective universities, such as Loyola Marymount.”
LMU was named a member of Phi Theta Kappa’s inaugural Excellence in Community College Transfer Honor Roll, along with 40 other top colleges and universities identified as having created dynamic pathways to support community college transfers.
