About EPC
Who We Are
The Educational Partnership Center (EPC) at the University of California, Santa Cruz increases access to higher education for students across the Monterey Bay, Pajaro Valley, and Silicon Valley. The EPC helps educationally disadvantaged students and first-generation college students in our region reach and succeed in college.
As part of the University of California, Santa Cruz, the EPC is committed to promoting and protecting an environment that values and supports every person in an atmosphere of civility, honesty, cooperation, professionalism, and fairness. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the freedom to speak, learn, and discover; equitable access to the university and its programs; constructive discussion of ideas; respect for differences; integrity in research; and diversity in perspective. Harassment of, or discrimination against, any member of our community is antithetical to all that we stand for.
Our Vision
Every student will be prepared to access and succeed in college.
Our Mission
We build educational equity and create opportunities for socioeconomically disadvantaged students and first-generation college students in the communities we serve by forging partnerships and empowering students with knowledge, tools, and support systems to access and succeed in college.
Our Values
UC Santa Cruz Educational Partnership Center is firm in its commitment to compliance with anti-discrimination laws, including state and federal anti-discrimination laws and the provisions of California’s Proposition 209, which prohibits State of California entities from engaging in “discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education and public contracting.”
What We Do
- We build communities that improve students’ college preparation and college-going rates
- We support students on their individual college-going and career pathways
- We provide tutoring, mentoring, counseling, test preparation, college awareness and enrichment, and teacher professional development
- We offer rigorous summer enrichment programs
- We partner with educational and community organizations to increase educational equity in college-going rates
- We use research, data, and evaluation to design, implement, and refine our services
- We aspire to be at the forefront of P-20 partnership development in the region, state, and nation
Who We Serve
- EPC serves students and their families who face barriers to going to college, such as language, financial and being first in their families to attend college.
- EPC works with underserved communities and schools, many of which are struggling to overcome lowered expectations, low test scores, and low college-going rates.
- EPC helps students overcome educational and financial barriers to prepare for and be accepted to either two-or four-year colleges.
- EPC offers nine programs that, together, provide services to more than 11,200 students annually.
- EPC provides direct service support to 35 K-12 schools in 12 school districts throughout California’s central coast region--including King City, Soledad, Gonzales, the Monterey Bay region, and Pajaro Valley to Silicon Valley/San Jose.
- EPC collaborates with teachers, counselors, administrators, and families to create a culture of high expectations and college-going for all students in our schools, educational systems, and communities.
Strategic Plan 2021
Our Vision: Every student will be prepared to access and succeed in college.
Our Mission: We build educational equity and create opportunities for socioeconomically disadvantaged students and first-generation college students in the communities we serve by forging partnerships and empowering students with knowledge, tools, and support systems to access and succeed in college.
Core Values
Transformation
We believe in the power of education to transform the lives of the students, families, and communities we serve.
Collaboration
We build partnerships with stakeholders to increase student access and success in college— a collective approach is the most powerful way to achieve the greatest impact.
Impact
We seek institutional and systemic change in public education to influence and advance educational equity and college attainment for all students.
Excellence
We have high expectations for ourselves and strive to instill these standards in the students, families, and partners with whom we work.
Diversity
We embrace different perspectives, cultures, and experiences and recognize their value to our communities.
Educational Equity
We seek to close gaps in college attainment by promoting systematic change and encouraging students to believe in themselves and their power to transform their communities and the future.
Advancement of Knowledge Using Research
We measure and evaluate our work through evidence-based practices in order to improve and advance knowledge of educational equity.