Students at Bunker Hill Community College have another path to earning a bachelor’s degree through a new joint admissions program with the University of Massachusetts Boston, where it already sends a large number of students, education officials announced Wednesday.
Under the terms of a new agreement, when Bunker Hill Community College students enroll in classes, they also will be able to simultaneously apply for future transfer and admission to UMass Boston. Bunker Hill graduates who have a GPA of 2.0 or better will be guaranteed admission to the university, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday by Bunker Hill and UMass.
“It significantly streamlines the application process and allows students to go seamlessly from community college to university,” the statement said.
The partnership, dubbed the Future Beacon Joint Admissions Program, is intended to create a smooth transition for community college students transferring to a four-year university to finish their education and receive their degrees.
At Bunker Hill’s campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, 65% of the student body identifies as people of color, and half are women. The college’s graduates, about 300 a year, make up the bulk of transfer students at UMass Boston, the statement said.
The new program will support and enhance students’ educational journeys as students “find what they love, and shape meaningful careers,” UMass Boston’s Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco said in the statement.
Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger said both schools “understand what it means to serve our urban and gateway communities of first-generation college students, of immigrant families, and post-traditional learners,” and the new partnership will nurture more focus on “that critical work.”
The agreement was signed at a Wednesday morning event co-hosted by The Boston Foundation, EdVestors, and the Boston Opportunity Agenda in downtown Boston.
Joseph Berger, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UMass Boston, applauded the new program.
“The Future Beacon pathway breaks down traditional barriers for equitable access and provides tangible opportunities for belonging and student success across our two great institutions of higher education,” Berger said in the statement.
Participants will receive academic advising and guidance at the college to help students track their progress toward their degrees, as well as financial support and access to scholarship opportunities, according to the statement.
The program “will give students a direct, barrier-free pathway to a bachelor’s degree and the inclusive support they need to be successful,” Bunker Hill Community College Provost James Canniff said in the statement.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.