A promise to a college education for all Long Beach students has been made possible by the collaboration of the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach.
The “Long Beach College Promise” is a multifaceted guarantee that gives students the opportunity to receive benefits and services at the higher education level. By 2011, all incoming LBCC students will have their first semesters paid for, and those who complete lower-division coursework and college preparation at LBCC will be granted admission to CSULB.
“This is a uniquely collaboratively commitment to the young people of Long Beach,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander to the Office of Public Affairs. “We believe that every child in our community has the ability to attend an institution of higher learning and earn a college degree.”
The three educational institutions have also created an outreach program to inform and prepare students at the sixth grade level for a future college career.
The “Promise” will be put into action starting this fall, with all new sixth grade classes in the Long Beach school district.
Other aspects of the “Promise” plan include the opportunity to go immediately to a four-year institution, to transfer after two years at a community college to a four-year university, and vocational, technical and professional training and certification.
“Long Beach owes much of its nationally recognized success to the strong and effective partnerships the school district has built with Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College,” said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in a statement. “Now, Long Beach educators have raised the bar even higher, setting a standard of K-12/college collaboration that will serve as a model for many other districts nationwide. We applaud their efforts and encourage other school systems to learn from them.”
