1,800 students sign-up for free college courses
Photo by Leslie Castaneda/TalonMarks.com
NORWALK - Students heading back to Cerritos College this week for the fall 2019 semester will see several upgrades and new programs.
Cerritos College welcomed more than 1,800 new high school graduates into its Promise Program Cerritos Complete this fall semester.
Beginning this semester, Cerritos Complete offers two years of free tuition to students who are committed to achieving success. The award-winning program offers personalized support to help students graduate from college in less time.
On August 13, the college hosted a kick-off event for participating students from ABC, Bellflower, Downey, Lynwood, Norwalk-La Mirada, Paramount Unified school districts, and Field of Dreams Charter School. Since its inception in 2015, Cerritos Complete has benefited 4,376 students.
Cerritos College is one of only 12 California community colleges that offers two years of free tuition.
With its continued focus on student completion, the campus also unveiled its new Stats in Motion program, which offers a creative way to teach students math concepts. The pilot program is a partnership between the mathematics and athletics departments and provides academic support to student-athletes in an untraditional way.
The curriculum is customized for athletes using game scores, team performances, and rankings to make content more relatable and identifiable. While student-athletes are playing their respective sports, they are also learning how to apply math to the game.
Creating a healthy campus environment that encourages and supports student success is critical. The College is introducing peer educator programs for sexual assault violence prevention and advocating for a fresh air campus smoking policy. The brand new Health & Wellness Complex that opened in April is the College’s first green-certified building.
The Complex centralizes essential functions to the Health, Physical Education, Dance and Athletics department and the Student Health Center, making it a more accessible, efficient facility where students can receive quality education and health care services.
“We are thrilled to welcome new and continuing students to our campus,” said Dr. Jose Fierro, president and superintendent of Cerritos College.
“Our goal is to provide students with all of the resources and they need to complete their education. Our programs like Cerritos Complete and Stats in Motion reduce barriers to help students reach their goals. We will continue to invest in developing innovative programs that help students successfully complete a degree, certificate, or transfer on time.”