Camarillo, CA - CSU Channel Islands (CI) and Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) have partnered to offer students in the Santa Barbara area three new bachelor’s degree programs – one leading to an MBA. The two institutions will formally kick off their expanded partnership with a news conference featuring students, faculty and administrators on Monday, June 18, at 1 p.m. in the Luria Conference and Press Center on the SBCC campus.

Beginning in fall 2012, students will be able to work toward a CI Bachelor of Arts in Psychology on the SBCC campus. In fall 2013, the campus will also offer a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and a B.S.-to-MBA program, in which students can obtain a bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA in as few as 3 ½ years. A dedicated office space, where CI advisors and faculty will meet with current and prospective students, is now open.

The three new degrees expand on existing opportunities for students in the Santa Barbara area to obtain a CSU degree without the need to commute, relocate or enroll in an online program. CI has offered a Bachelor of Science in Business at SBCC and an MBA in Goleta since fall 2011. It recently expanded its nursing program to Goleta in a partnership with Cottage Health System.

“We at CI have an institutional commitment to serve the citizens of the Santa Barbara region and are building academic programs and an infrastructure to do so for years to come,” said Dr. Gary Berg, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Extended University/International Programs. “By holding CI bachelor’s completion programs on the SBCC campus, we are reaching SBCC graduates who would not ordinarily be able to attend CI.”

“In these challenging economic times, institutions must work together to ensure that students in our respective communities have the best and most affordable access to higher education,” said Dr. Jack Friedlander, Acting President/Superintendent at SBCC. “Providing these programs on our campus will enable a large number of people in the Santa Barbara region to pursue a bachelor's degree and/or MBA from a CSU campus. If these programs are successful, we will identify additional CI bachelor’s degree programs on our campus.”

The programs in Psychology, Early Childhood Education and B.S.-to-MBA were selected based on high demand from SBCC students. About 25 to 30 students would be accepted into each program annually. Courses are taught by CI faculty and are scheduled primarily on Saturdays, with some optional course work on Friday evenings.

SBCC and CI also are collaborating on a federal grant to offer accelerated programs for SBCC students majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to transfer seamlessly to CI and complete their four-year degrees.

For additional information, visit http://ext.csuci.edu/.