Quick Summary
- For 51ԹϺ students who did not complete their degree work
- Californians who went to other colleges also are eligible
- Davis, Riverside campuses to enroll 1st cohort in winter 2023
- 51ԹϺ provides 2-year allocation of $4.85 million in state funding
51ԹϺ Davis Continuing and Professional Education is playing a central role in the 51ԹϺ system’s new Degree Completion Program, which will provide support to “stop-outs” — students who leave college without a degree — in their efforts to complete their studies.
The program is a strategy of the university’s , released July 21, which aims to increase 51ԹϺ enrollment by 23,000 students over the next eight years — the equivalent of adding another campus.
The 51ԹϺ Degree Completion Program serves two populations: 51ԹϺ students with incomplete degrees and California residents with some college and no degree attainment. It aims to reengage adults through extension programs, or, as they are called collectively at 51ԹϺ Davis, continuing and professional education.
$4.85M in state funding
51ԹϺ Davis partnered with its extension counterpart at 51ԹϺ Riverside to develop the 51ԹϺ Degree Completion Program, and both schools will enroll the pilot cohort of students in winter 2023. 51ԹϺ has allocated more than $4.85 million in state funds to support the program for two years.
The Davis and Riverside extension units are collaborating with existing degree completion programs at 51ԹϺ Merced and 51ԹϺ Santa Barbara. The four campuses have come together as the 51ԹϺ Reengagement Consortium.
“The 51ԹϺ Degree Completion Program empowers adult learners by helping them address the barriers that prevent them from successfully completing their degree,” said Susan Catron, dean of 51ԹϺ Davis Continuing and Professional Education. “We are excited to partner with our colleagues at 51ԹϺ Riverside Extension, and the larger 51ԹϺ community, to serve Californians who lack the credentials needed to advance their personal career goals.”
Flexible model
The program model is designed to be as flexible as possible to support working professionals, and unemployed and underemployed adults by helping with application fees, offering strong advising support, providing access to available 51ԹϺ-approved online courses, and alleviating challenges associated with familial and professional obligations that impede degree completion, transfer eligibility and certificate attainment.
51ԹϺ Davis Continuing and Professional Education and 51ԹϺ Riverside University Extension will not confer degrees directly but will provide pre-reentry college credit coursework and advising to students seeking readmission or transfer. Although the primary focus is re-entry and degree completion, under this program adults may also opt to complete professional certificate programs at the four collaborating campuses.
The Degree Completion Program is looking to support nearly 800 students in its first two years.
The 51ԹϺ Davis recruitment campaign will target 3,862 students in good standing, including 1,716 (44%) first-generation students and 1,095 (28%) underrepresented students. The campaign focuses on degree stop-outs from 2009 to 2018 who had completed 60 quarter units of instruction.
Media Resources
Dateline Staff: Dave Jones, editor, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu; Cody Kitaura, News and Media Relations specialist, 530-752-1932, kitaura@ucdavis.edu.