UC's impact — public investment at work 
Increasing college preparation
UC is helping create better futures for K-12 students by offering programs that help prepare young people and their parents for college and the pursuit of life-changing careers.
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Inspiring careers in science and engineering
The statewide MESA program, administered by UC, helps educationally disadvantaged youth prepare for and graduate from four-year colleges and universities with degrees in math, science and engineering. See video of how Watsonville High School students are directly benefiting from the program.
“Without (Early Academic Outreach Program), getting into college would have been far more difficult. EAOP gave me the tools to compete with students who went to better-performing high schools than mine. My success is directly linked to the help I received from EAOP.”
-- Francisco Castillo, EAOP alumnus, UC Berkeley graduate, engineer
Building family support
UC’s Early Academic Outreach Program works with students at underserved schools to increase their opportunities for achieving a college education. Its new Family Inclusion Initiative helps empower parents to advise students on their college-preparation path.
Bridging classrooms and communities
The Puente Project, co-sponsored by the University of California and California Community Colleges, helps prepare educationally disadvantaged students to enroll in college, earn college degrees and return to the community as mentors.
Campus links:
See how UC is making a difference in preparing students for college.
- Read more about UC’s student preparation programs
- Read more about UC’s campus-based college prep and outreach programs
- California GEAR UP helps prepare students to enter and succeed in college
- UC’s COSMOS program trains high school students in math and science
- UC Riverside Copernicus Project provides opportunity for students to teach students
- UC San Diego ‘Dare to Dream College’ event emphasizes academic preparation
- UC San Francisco-based team of high school students triumphs in international contest
- UC Santa Barbara environmental education program wins governor’s award
Latest budget news
Did you know?
- In 2006, more than 117,000 students participated in UC-led academic preparation programs.
- Programs like EAOP, MESA and Puente are making a difference: 50% of participants in these programs enroll at UC, CSU or a community college, compared with 25% of peers.
Resources
- UC's impact: key points (pdf)
- 2009-10 budget process for UC (pdf)
- Discussion of 2009-10 budget issues (pdf)
- Funding higher education: An investment in California's economy (pdf)
- Campaign for College Opportunity issues report on impact of higher education cuts to California
- UC, CSU, CCC leaders: Invest in public higher education (pdf)
- UC Academic Senate’s report on impact of proposed budget cuts (pdf)
- Student fee fact sheet (pdf)
- 2008-09 state budget
- Archived budget information
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