Rep. Sawyer Supports Expansion of the Guaranteed Admission Program

Hartford- Today the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut Community College System announced an agreement to expand the Guaranteed Admissions Program (GAP) to include community college graduates wishing to earn University of Connecticut degrees in business.

The agreement was signed at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford by Michael J. Hogan, president of the University of Connecticut, and Marc S. Herzog, chancellor of the community college system.

Representative Pam Sawyer (R- Andover, Bolton, Hebron, and Marlborough) has been a big proponent of GAP as the ranking member of the legislature’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.

“This is exactly the type of synergy we need throughout Connecticut’s higher education system,” Rep. Sawyer said. “We are providing more opportunities for the young people in our state rather than forcing them out of state or, worse, discouraging them from continuing their education.”

The Guaranteed Admissions Program began in 2004 as a pilot program that provided Connecticut’s Community College graduates guaranteed admission to UConn’s Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Agriculture and Natural Sciences. 

Under the expansion of GAP, graduates of Connecticut’s Community Colleges who earn an associate’s degree in a liberal arts transfer program with a 3.3 GPA will be guaranteed admission to the University of Connecticut’s School of Business.

Sawyer said that this program will benefit those driven students who have successfully worked their way through a rigorous associates degree with better than a ‘B’ average. “These are the business leaders of tomorrow, some of CT’s finest,” she said.

“This agreement will prove very beneficial to the Connecticut students, the Community Colleges and the University of Connecticut, and the State of Connecticut, said Hogan. “It’s a win-win-win situation.”

“This agreement represents a major expansion of opportunity for Community College students,” Herzog said. “Each year the open doors of Community Colleges offer thousands of students’ access to the many opportunities provided by higher education- academic success, personal development, improved earning potential and career advancement, and a better life for themselves, their families, and the communities in which they live.”

The Community Colleges and UConn will share information about the students in the program, including their progress at the Community Colleges and their success at the University.

Students who do not participate in the GAP may still be eligible to transfer to UConn through the competitive transfer process.