Community College

In a partnership with three local community colleges, UC Irvine works to recruit and retain women and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors. With financial support from the National Science Foundation, the university’s iStart (Innovate from the Start: Engaging Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduates) helps build a community college pipeline, delivers a hands-on design approach that motivates students to stay, and offers an innovation ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship.

The Samueli School of Engineering, the Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, and the Department of Mathematics collaborate with Irvine Valley College, Santa Ana College and Saddleback College to ensure that transfer students enter UCI prepared to take junior level coursework upon enrollment. This UCI program is working to increase the number of students, especially those from underrepresented groups, who earn bachelor’s degrees in engineering and computer science.