Occidental College and Pasadena City College (PCC) formalized a new partnership on Sept. 21, designed to strengthen the pathway for PCC students seeking to transfer to Occidental and expand access to a liberal arts education in Los Angeles.
The agreement marks Occidental’s first formal partnership with a two-year college and PCC’s first transfer agreement with a private institution.
Occidental President Tom Stritikus and PCC President José A. Gómez signed a memorandum of understanding during a ceremony on the Occidental campus attended by leaders from both institutions, transfer students, educators, community partners, local representatives, and California Assemblymember Jessica Caloza.
The agreement builds on a shared commitment to creating clearer, more accessible routes to a four-year degree while ensuring that transfer students have the support they need to thrive. It provides greater clarity about which PCC courses will transfer to Occidental for general education credit, and future major-specific pathways are in progress. The partnership also includes a commitment to regular admission and transfer-focused events on both campuses, giving students more opportunities to learn about Occidental and understand the transfer process.
“Our partnership with PCC is about creating stronger pathways for exceptional students in our own region and ensuring that an Occidental education is accessible to students from a wide range of backgrounds,” Stritikus said. “I’m thrilled that, with the signing of this MOU, we are opening a pathway that can serve generations of students. At a moment when the ability to read, write, and think critically is more important than ever, this partnership reflects our shared commitment to access and academic excellence.”
Our partnership with PCC is about creating stronger pathways for exceptional students in our own region and ensuring that an Occidental education is accessible to students from a wide range of backgrounds.
–Occidental College President Tom Stritikus
The partnership reflects Occidental’s broader commitment to serving L.A. and strengthening relationships with educational institutions across the region. As L.A.’s only liberal arts college, Occidental offers transfer students the opportunity to combine the close faculty relationships and interdisciplinary learning of a liberal arts education with the academic, professional, and cultural resources of one of the world’s great cities.
Pasadena City College serves a diverse population of students from across the San Gabriel Valley and greater Los Angeles region and has long been a leading pathway to four-year institutions, ranking No. 1 in the state for transfer to California public universities.
“PCC students bring tremendous talent and determination to the institutions they join,” Gómez said. “This partnership recognizes their potential and creates another meaningful opportunity for them to continue their education at an institution where they can make a lasting contribution. We believe this can serve as a model for what strong transfer partnerships can look like, and it is especially meaningful to build that model with an institution just down the road.”
“As a first-generation college student, expanding access to higher education has been a thread throughout my career, so being here today feels like a full-circle moment,” said Caloza. “During the Obama administration, I had the privilege of serving in the U.S. Department of Education and working on policies designed to open doors and create greater opportunity for students. This partnership between PCC and Occidental puts that commitment into action right here in our community by creating a clearer, more accessible pathway for students to continue their education.”
The agreement is intended to make the transfer process more transparent and navigable for PCC students interested in Occidental, while strengthening collaboration between faculty and staff at the two institutions.
