For students in the graduating class of 2017 and beyond, there is a guaranteed admission to Cal State San Marcos. Carlsbad High School has made a partnership with CSUSM, as have many other schools in California, as a way to provide students with a plan for college.

This partnership resulted in order to enhance student success, so long as high school students complete the requirements to guarantee admission.

“I’d be interested because it is kind of like a Plan B, especially with financial issues or if you don’t get accepted to your top school,” senior Melissa Contreras said. “It’s a good thing to rely on.”

This can be an opportunity for those who do not have a set plan after high school, or do not get into the college of their choice.

“It’s really just making sure that students who may not have been able to get into a four year school, as far as competition goes, are still able to attend a state school,” Leah Becker said. “With this, they know that they are guaranteed admission no matter what out of that poll of students that applied to Cal State San Marcos.”

A few of the minimum requirements to qualify for the guaranteed admission include being a member of CUSD since 9th grade, meeting all of the A-G requirements that are also required for graduation and having an accumulative GPA of 3.0. In addition, all students must take either the ACT or SAT.

“I would think this opportunity would continue because graduating from Carlsbad, you have to have specific standards and requirements,” Contreras said. “Also I feel that California, the state, has a good program, so I think it will still continue on for the next few years.”

This opportunity also helps students to ensure that they will go to college, because they are guaranteed admission to Cal State San Marcos no matter what.

“They make partnerships because obviously they want students to go to their school,” Becker said. “They are just putting that investment out into our community, and making sure that our students have an opportunity to go to a Cal State.”