By Ava Uhlack, September 1, 2025
For the first time in university history, Cal Poly Pomona offered guaranteed admission for California resident transfer students who meet the general California State University transfer requirements.
According to an email sent by CPP Strategic Communications, “Students at any California community college who would meet the CSU minimum transfer student requirements by the end of Fall 2025 and attend the special admission sessions either on their campus or online, would get personal admissions advising and receive guaranteed admission to Cal Poly Pomona for the Spring 2026 semester.”
Schools listed for in-person sessions were Mount San Antonio College, Victor Valley College, Santiago Canyon College, Mount San Jacinto College, Rio Hondo College, Citrus College, Fullerton College and Pasadena City College. The deadline for the application was Aug. 31, and according to Brandon Tuck, presidential associate for community partnerships at CPP, there were more than 200 students registered for the outreach and admission events across all the campuses, including the virtual forums, over the past couple of weeks.
“I’d like to say this is an original idea that we came up with, but there are schools doing guaranteed admissions,” Tuck said. “The difference is we’re doing admission on the spot, and we’re doing it at your school. We’re coming to you and bringing the support, like financial aid and PolyTransfer.”
At these outreach events, students filled out applications and received assistance from CPP representatives to ensure all their requirements for admission were met. If so, students were admitted on the spot, according to Tuck.
Qualifications for this initiative included all baseline CSU requirements including 60 transferable units and the golden four, which consists of oral communication, written communication, critical thinking and math, according to Traci Lew, interim director of the Office of Admissions at CPP. If students passed those classes with a “C” letter grade or better and had GPA of 2.0 or higher, they are guaranteed admission with a non-impacted major.
Major impaction refers to a certain program’s capacity for students, according to the Office of Admissions. There are currently 19 programs at CPP that are labeled as impacted.
Some of them include electrical engineering, civil engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, sociology, psychology, accounting and biology. An updated list of these majors is available for reference on the admissions website. This list will also include what classes are required for these specific majors for admission.
“It’s a mutual partnership,” Lew said. “We commit to them if they commit to us and complete all those requirements, so we always tell students to start strong and end strong. We commit to you and guarantee admission if you’re going to complete all those requirements.”
According to Lew, CPP hasn’t used the word “guaranteed” until now. Until recently, the Chancellor’s Office categorized CPP as impacted regarding the admissions for transfer students, meaning CPP couldn’t admit as many students because it was at capacity.
CPP is now categorized as non-impacted for transfer students, which prompted the initiative’s creation and encouragement of student outreach, according to Lew.
“We’re going to continue to see increased competition from other universities,” Lew said. “Who knows, maybe some programs may un-impact in the future, but for right, now non-impacted students at least are guaranteed a spot here.”
According to Tuck, students from any community college in California qualified for this opportunity, including northern California community colleges, which is why there were also virtual forums for students.
“The people are really sweet; I really like the urban regional planning department,” said Clarys Paragas, an urban planning student. “Do it. If you’re not from the area, clubs are a good way to meet people, and there are so many on campus, especially for transfer students.”
The university hopes to continue this program in the future, according to Lew.
“This guaranteed admission is going to move forward beyond spring,” Lew said. “We will continue to partner with outreach to get the word out to community colleges.”
Feature image courtesy of Darren Loo