Cal State Fullerton renewed and expanded upon a transfer agreement with Santa Ana Community College on Oct. 1 as a part of a Memorandum of Understanding addendum to a larger transfer agreement between the two schools.

The agreement, which previously only allowed students from the Santa Ana Unified High School District a transfer guarantee into CSUF, now allows a guarantee to all students who attend SAC and are Santa Ana Promise eligible.

To qualify for a guaranteed transfer into CSUF, SAC students must be a part of the SAC Promise program – which entails signing a promise pledge, attending the program’s orientation, applying for financial aid and enrolling as a full-time student. To qualify for transfer, SAC Promise students must obtain at least a 2.8 GPA.

The program was initially founded in 2015 as a partnership between the city of Santa Ana, SAC, Santa Ana Unified High School District, UC Irvine and CSUF, formerly known as Adelante.

For years now, a sizable majority of Santa Ana College Students have transferred into the CSU system. During the 2024-25 academic school year, 1,058 students transferred to a CSU out of 2,151 overall students who transferred to four-year colleges or universities.

Since 2019, the percentage of SAC students who transferred into CSUs has not dipped below 48%. The number of students who have transferred to CSUF, specifically since 2019, has ranged from 482 students in its lowest year to 668 in its highest year.

SAC’s transfer program worked with CSUF’s Center for Educational Partnerships to draft this addendum, which will be applicable to students as of fall 2025, according to Javier Garcia, a student services coordinator from SAC.

Additionally, CSUF has set aside approximately $70,000 in scholarships for Santa Ana transfers taking part in the program.

According to Garcia, SAC has focused on marketing this program to eligible students. These efforts can begin as early as high school.

Garcia spoke about the benefits of the program for those who choose to continue their education after receiving their associate’s degree, more specifically, those who want to continue their education at an institution closer to their homes.

With the extension of the program, Santa Ana College University Transfer Director Leo Pastrana expects a wider range of students, beyond those who transfer to SAC from high school, will be able to benefit from it.

“Oftentimes, you know, for community college students, there’s various issues for which they can’t go straight to a four-year,” Pastrana said. “So I think having those guaranteed admissions is awesome for them.”