Photo: STAR transfer student mixers
ECST created the Successful Transfer and Retention (STAR) Pathways Program to help students transferring from community colleges have a more successful transition to a 4-year university and a more timely graduation. The STAR Program is funded by the College Futures Foundation, whose vision is to advance racial, social, and economic equity, unlocking upward mobility in postsecondary education now and for generations to come.
Through the STAR program, ECST has developed partnerships with neighboring community colleges, including Pasadena City College (PCC), East Los Angeles College (ELAC), Glendale Community College (GCC), Mount San Antonio College (Mt. SAC), Los Angeles Trade-Tech Community College (LATTC), Rio Hondo College, and El Camino College.
ECST has been working with these partner community colleges to ensure common learning outcomes for courses that transfer between the institutions, develop clear roadmaps of the courses students need to take at their community college and at Cal State LA, and provide peer mentoring to support students before and after they transfer.
STAR peer mentors support transfer students by attending outreach events at community colleges, participating in transfer orientation, hosting transfer mixers at Cal State LA to build community, and advising individual transfer students at partner community colleges using Discord, an app that allows them to connect over voice, video, and text.
The STAR project continues to expand its contacts and now works with Bakersfield College, Cal State Bakersfield, San Jose State University, Growth Sector, and LA Community College District to develop and provide resources to community college students for career awareness, engineering skills training, peer mentoring, career counseling, and internship preparations.