CSU San Bernardino and the Linked Learning Alliance Sign MOU to Provide Accelerated Opportunities to Linked Learning Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2016
SAN BERNARDINO, CA – California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) and the Linked Learning Alliance (Alliance) today announced a pilot to provide accelerated opportunities to Linked Learning students and graduates at CSUSB. CSUSB is the first postsecondary institution to formally commit to explore providing Linked Learning students opportunities to accelerate degree attainment.
“Postsecondary institutions want students that graduate high schools with a foundation of experiences, competencies, and confidence to succeed in college and career,” said Christopher Cabaldon, President of the Linked Learning Alliance. “Linked Learning students have this kind of preparation. CSUSB is leading an innovative effort to increase efficiency for these students and the postsecondary system.”
Research shows that, compared with their peers, students in certified Linked Learning pathways earn more credits in the first three years of high school, report greater confidence in their life and career skills, and say they are experiencing more rigorous, integrated, and relevant instruction. The data also show that students coming into Linked Learning with low prior achievement were less likely to drop out, completed more a-g courses, and had higher GPAs than similar students enrolled in traditional high schools.
This pilot will foster collaboration and support across the university necessary to providing Linked Learning students with streamlined transitions between career pathways and CSUSB.
With the aim of building a supportive infrastructure that helps Linked Learning students efficiently earn a postsecondary degree, CSUSB will establish task forces to cultivate faculty and staff knowledge about Linked Learning and explore the feasibility of admissions preference, dual-enrollment, and dual-credit opportunities for Linked Learning students in the San Bernardino region.
“This partnership is significant because CSUSB is the first postsecondary institution to commit to explore opportunities to accelerate degree attainment for Linked Learning students,” Cabaldon continued.
“The Linked Learning approach to preparing students for college and career complements CSU’s commitment to innovative practices that improve student success and accelerate degree completion,” said Dr. Tomás Morales, President, California State University, San Bernardino. “CSUSB serves the surrounding community. Linked Learning is helping to transform the outcomes of schools in our region and I believe stronger partnerships with our K-12 pathways will help to improve student achievement, retention, and graduation rates, and benefit the regional economy.”
Linked Learning is designed to ensure all high school students graduate with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in college, career, and life.
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About Linked Learning Alliance
The Linked Learning Alliance is a statewide coalition of education, industry, and community organizations dedicated to improving California’s high schools and preparing students for success in college, career, and life. Established in May 2008, the Linked Learning Alliance aims to build a collective voice and coordinate efforts to expand access to Linked Learning in California-an approach to high school that integrates rigorous academics with real-world learning opportunities in fields of engineering, health care, performing arts, law, and more. | www.linkedlearning.org
About California State University, San Bernardino
California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in Inland Southern California. Opened in 1965 and set at the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, the university serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually. CSUSB reflects the dynamic diversity of the region and has the most diverse student population of any university in the Inland Empire, and it has the second highest African American and Hispanic enrollments of all public universities in California. Seventy percent of those who graduate are the first in their families to do so.