Pima Community College and the University of Arizona are partnering in a new initiative to increase the number of college students who obtain baccalaureate degrees.

PCC Chancellor Roy Flores and UA President Robert N. Shelton will participate in a signing ceremony establishing the Arizona Transfer Admissions Pathways, known as AzTAP, on Friday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. in the Community Board Room at PCC’s District Offices, 4905 E. Broadway Blvd.

The new Arizona Transfer Admission Pathway agreement will create official articulated degree pathways – integrating degree requirements between UA and Pima Community College. This allows a community college student to seamlessly transfer to the UA as a junior with the same status as a student who started at the UA as a freshman. 

The first AzTAPs will be in the following disciplines:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Agribusiness Economics and Management
• Anthropology
• Business Administration, Evening Cohort
• Commerce
• Communication
• Early Childhood Education
• Elementary Education (UA South)
• Elementary Education with Early Childhood Education Endorsement  (UA South)
• Environmental Science
• Family Studies and Human Development
• Human Services
• Nutritional Sciences
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Supervision 

PCC and the UA have a long history of collaborating to support transfer student success. Their efforts are taking on increasing importance as Arizona’s demand increases for additional access to degree programs.

“We continue to strengthen our relationship with the University of Arizona to ensure that residents of Pima County have streamlined paths to bachelor’s degrees,” Flores said. “This partnership complements existing articulation initiatives and adds to our list of transfer opportunities.”

“We want all Pima County students to have a degree option that suits their individual needs, and this agreement provides them with a clear pathway to becoming a UA graduate,” Shelton said. “The UA is committed to establishing new and innovative ways for Arizonans to obtain a bachelor’s degree.”

Ultimately, PCC students will have 75-85 degree pathways available. Additional pathways will be announced as they are finalized.

The chance for a student to successfully complete a bachelor's degree improves markedly when community colleges and universities work to ensure that the maximum number of credits count toward their baccalaureate degree. AzTAP is a formal mechanism to guide that process.