Sonoma State University has teamed up with the College of Marin to offer a bachelor’s degree program on the College of Marin Campuses. The program, set to begin during the fall 2017 semester, will allow students to complete upper division credit units at the College of Marin according to Sonoma State University’s News Center and the College of Marin website. 

Robert Eyler, Sonoma State University’s dean of the School of Extended and International Education, and Jonathan Eldridge, the acting superintendent and president for College of Marin, have been working closely since March 2016 to complete the new program. 

According to the College of Marin website, Eldridge said the partnership with Sonoma State “creates a seamless path” for members of Marin County to obtain bachelor’s degrees.

Sonoma State and College of Marin have had multiple meetings discussing potential curriculum, advising approaches, scheduling and admissions requirements. They have also held student focus groups to determine what is most important for to complete their educational goals. 

The College of Marin will be recruiting four to six faculty members from Sonoma State University in order to teach a variety of courses in different majors. In order to be apart of the program, students will need to complete prerequisite classes for each major beforehand. 

According to the College of Marin website, Eyler said the issues of commuting and advising are some of the main ones this program hopes to solve, in addition to solving “more traditional” problems for students who have completed BA or BS programs.

The two colleges have found that a lot of Sonoma State University students commute from Marin to Rohnert Park in order to get a degree, and they believe this can be very impractical. Offering upper division courses that will allow students to receive a bachelor’s degree at the College of Marin will make life a lot easier for students who commute because they still have obligations in Marin, according to the college’s website. 

Sonoma State senior Jerri Cohen said she has commuted from Marin three of her four college years. Cohen has a job in Marin which she values very much and did not want to give up while she was attending college. 

“I wish this program had existed while I attended Sonoma State University,” Jerri Cohen said. “It would have saved me a lot of gas money as well as stress.” 

Cohen said during the three years in which she commuted, she had to make sure she got all of her classes on two days a week so that she would would still be able to work 30 hours per week. 

A few upper division courses will be available fall 2017, and the complete program is expected to launch as early as fall 2018. 

For more information, visit the College of Marin website or contact Nicole Cruz at (415) 485-9508.