SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, August 11, San Francisco State University announced a new transfer admissions policy in partnership with City College of San Francisco that will allow community college students to transfer to SF State as freshmen or sophomores.
Starting fall 2021, students will have the ability to transfer to SF State after taking as few as two classes at a community college. They will have to take a basic writing course and a math course.
It represents a change from the current school policy in which students have to spend 2 years and take 20 classes before transferring to a four-year university. Students will no longer need to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for admission, but must have at least a B-average from high school and a C-average at a community college.
According to San Francisco State’s official news release, both San Francisco State and City College of San Francisco officials realize the need for this new admission policy as it will help these institutions recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the new school year approaches, SF State’s enrollment is down 11 percent, so the school has the space to add more students moving forward. In addition, allowing students to transfer to SF State earlier will help to increase educational equity at the university as more students will be able to earn bachelor degrees.
“The difficult landscape created by the current health crisis presents us with an opportunity to plan for economic recovery and strengthen educational equity for low-income and underserved communities,” said SF State President Lynn Mahoney. “We are proud to partner with City College of San Francisco in implementing these new guidelines that will make a significant impact locally. Our regional, post-COVID recovery efforts will require a pipeline of skilled and educated workers who already know, love and want to live in San Francisco and the Bay Area.”
The fall 2021 application period starts in October 2020 with lower division transfers being available to those qualified.
