For immediate release – San Mateo County
Loyola Marymount University signed their first Guaranteed Transfer Admission Agreement with the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) Thursday afternoon, strengthening academic ties between the two institutions and aiming to streamline the pathway for community college students to LMU.
The San Mateo County Community College District includes three community colleges: Skyline College, College of San Mateo, and Cañada College.
Additionally, the agreement hopes to encourage more well-prepared students to transfer from SMCCCD’s trio of colleges and to LMU, while alleviating concerns over course transferability and admission feasibility upon enrolling at Loyola.
“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.”
Gutto adds that it is the university’s hope to continue strengthening partnerships with similar agreements across the state and beyond.
LMU currently boasts a strong transfer profile, with 62 percent of its 375 new enrollees for the 2016-2017 school year coming from a community college. And most recently, 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 transfer.
President of San Mateo Colleges of Silicon Valley and Provost for International Affairs, Jing Luan, Ph.D., is equally enthusiastic about the newly forged partnership between LMU and his district:
“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.”