Southwestern College and Cal State San Marcos will join forces to bring new bachelor’s degree programs in business and technology to South County.
This marks the first time CSUSM will offer degree pathways in the region, through a collaboration based at the newly established CSUSM @ SWC University Center.
Officials plan a formal ceremony Thursday to celebrate the partnership, set to launch next year.
Degrees will be offered in business administration, computer information systems and cybersecurity in fall 2026, followed by human development with an emphasis on wellness coaching and bilingual speech language pathology in fall 2027.
“This partnership marks a turning point for South County,” said Dr. Mark Sanchez, superintendent and president of Southwestern. “Together, we are not only expanding access to high-quality, affordable bachelor’s degrees, we are preparing our students to step directly into high-demand careers that power our regional economy. We are proud to welcome CSU San Marcos to South County.”
The fields were selected based on findings from the 2023 Workforce and Education Needs Assessment conducted by the San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center, Southwestern College and the city of Chula Vista.
The report identified business, healthcare and technology as among the highest-priority fields for new bachelor’s degree programs in the region.
Additionally, a list of 147 priority occupations in the area includes many roles that require bachelor’s degrees in healthcare and wellness. The report notes that 73% of the region’s priority occupations are projected to require a bachelor’s degree at entry, yet the region remains underserved in terms of degree-granting institutions.
“At Cal State San Marcos, our mission has always been centered on access and student success – and this partnership with Southwestern College is a powerful extension of that commitment,” said Dr. Ellen Neufeldt, president of CSUSM. “By creating seamless pathways to higher education, we are not only expanding economic opportunity in South County, we are advancing social mobility for generations of students, families and communities.”
Officials said that Chula Vista, with nearly 275,000 residents, is the largest city of its size in California without a public university offering bachelor’s degrees. The city has long attempted to draw interest as a site for a new statewide campus – California has two four-year public universities with multiple campuses – to no avail.
To fill the gap, Southwestern has other partnerships in place, including with San Diego State, Arizona State University and Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS) in Ensenada. Though some California Community Colleges may confer bachelor’s degrees in specific programs under state laws signed in 2014 and 2021, Southwestern is not yet one of them.
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