Calbright is specifically designed to offer a supportive, effective, career-focused college education to California adults who have responsibilities like jobs, children, or the care of aging parents. But not everyone who could benefit from the Calbright model of higher education knows about it. They also might not feel like they have the support they need to add one more thing to their busy lives, even if it’s a curriculum and flexible model designed for them.
That’s why Calbright is launching a new partnership with United Resource Center (URC), a statewide organization that supports working caregivers and their families with job training and skill development, education pathways and career connections, and access to basic needs and essential services.
Many members of URC’s community are looking to expand their education in order to improve their careers, and URC helps connect them with community colleges and supports them through their academic journeys.
“We remove all barriers,” URC Executive Director Sharon-Frances Moore told Calbright College’s Board of Trustees at a recent Board meeting. “We help them with transportation, with help them with laptops, we help them with rent and other needs, we walk them through the doors and then through the entire program to make sure they graduate with success.”
URC is now working with Calbright to determine which of its members would benefit from Calbright’s innovative approach to higher education, connect them, and see what opportunities they find and obstacles they face using Calbright’s Competency-Based Education programs.
“At its core, this partnership is about expanding who higher education can reach,” said Tamika Connor, Calbright’s Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. “The strength of this partnership is that Calbright and URC address different parts of the learner experience. Calbright provides accessible, flexible, workforce aligned education designed for adults who need to fit college into already busy lives. URC helps individuals and families navigate community resources, workforce opportunities, case management, and other support. URC has relationships with working adults and caregivers who may benefit from education and career advancement but may also face barriers to pursuing those opportunities, and is a trusted community connection.”
Together, they will be able to expand both the range of people getting the higher education they need and the kinds of support they get to succeed.
“This partnership allows us to explore what happens when online skills based learning and community support work together around the same learner,” Connor said.
The program will begin in fall 2026 with a regional pilot program, establishing best practices, and then potentially expand statewide.
