$1.6 Million California State Grant to Enhance Engineering Pathways for Community College Students
UCLA Samueli Profs. Greg Pottie (left) and Rick Wesel (right) are leading a new state-funded initiative to improve educational outcomes for community college students in engineering.
The grant will support the development of innovative solutions to facilitate a successful transition from community colleges to an engineering program at four-year universities, enhancing both academic and professional opportunities for students, while engaging industry as critical partners to help sustain internship opportunities and the program broadly.
Greg Pottie, a professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering, and Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs Richard Wesel, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, are co-principal investigators on the project beginning in August. Their work will focus on removing barriers that hinder community college students from fully participating in the engineering workforce.
“Transfer students from community colleges have a much shorter time span assimilating into a four-year university and are often overlooked for internship and other employment opportunities,” Pottie said. “One of the project’s objectives is to bridge this gap by providing these students with much-needed resources to improve employment outcomes after graduation.”
The program will fund staff support for the California Engineering Liaison Council (ELC), an organization dedicated to improving coordination among four-year and two-year engineering programs and course articulation agreements that enable students to transfer course credits from community college to their four-year university. All community colleges in California, as well as all University of California and California State University engineering programs are welcome to participate at ELC meetings and in the program.
Several key initiatives will also be funded by this grant, including the development of statewide bridge programs and a comprehensive internship program. These efforts are designed to improve credit transferability, provide practical work experience and enhance coordination among educational institutions and industry partners.
“Industry involvement is pivotal to the success of the project,” Wesel said, “We plan to build a consortium of industry partners to offer internships and other opportunities for students, creating a sustainable model that benefits both students and employers.”
This initiative aligns with Learning Lab’s mission to enhance learning outcomes and close equity gaps in public higher education — particularly in science, technology, engineering and math. The grant represents a significant step toward achieving a more inclusive and effective engineering education system in California. “Students in community colleges deserve the kind of streamlined pathways, connections to industry and support structure this project will provide,” said Lark Park, director of Learning Lab. “The State of California and industries that rely on engineering talent will be the beneficiaries of this collaboration.”