With competition rising to get into UC Irvine’s science and engineering majors, Irvine Valley College offers local students a clear path in.
It’s called the UCI-IVC Engineering Academy, and any student who completes the program and also meets UCI’s academic performance requirements is guaranteed admission into UCI’s Samueli School of Engineering.
Students can choose from several majors, including aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, environmental engineering and mechanical engineering – many of which are in high demand from growing sectors.
Thanks to such partnerships, IVC transfers more students to UCI than any other community college – twice as many as the school with the second highest transfer rate. IVC also leads all OC community colleges in transfers to UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis and UC Riverside.
A pipeline into UCI
How fierce is the competition to get into a STEM-related program at UCI?
Consider this: UCI ranks third in the U.S. among colleges receiving the most applications, according to U.S. News & World Report.
On top of that, the vast majority of applications are for STEM-related majors.
For example, more than half of this year’s applications were for just six of the school’s 85 majors, including biological sciences and computer science, according to an L.A. Times report, which concluded: “Any situation in which there are three times as many applicants as openings is going to lead to a lot of dashed hopes.”
With competition like that, IVC’s program offers local students a rare opportunity: a pipeline into one of the nation’s most sought-after colleges – at an affordable price.
$1,100 annual tuition
Annual tuition and fees cost around $1,100, and many IVC students transfer to UCI as a junior after saving tens of thousands of dollars in tuition.
“We have high-achieving students that could have gone anywhere after high school who choose to come to a community college first,” says IVC President John Hernandez. “We can meet the needs of anyone who wants to pursue an education.”
In addition to the UCI-IVC Engineering Academy, IVC offers associate degrees in over 80 majors ranging from accounting and philosophy to laser technology. In these programs, students can prepare for high-demand, high-paying jobs in two years or sometimes less.
IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE: AT A GLANCE
• IVC leads all OC community colleges in transfers to UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis and UC Riverside.
• IVC offers two-year associate degrees in over 80 majors, from accounting to philosophy to laser technology.
• More than 16,000 students attend IVC. The annual tuition and fees are about $1,100.
• Irvine Company contributed land to establish the 60-acre IVC campus.
• IVC was founded in 1979 as Saddleback College North Campus and established in 1985 as Irvine Valley College.
• IVC faculty members include authors, Fulbright scholars, scientists, professional musicians and entrepreneurs.
