California tests new higher education model focused on skills, jobs and career readiness

Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom is pointing to the University of California’s new UC Degree Plus Program as an early sign that students are looking for more direct pathways between the classroom and the workplace.

Launched in 2025, the two-year pilot is available at no additional cost to students at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. It pairs a UC bachelor’s degree with skills-based certificates and paid internships, giving undergraduates a stronger bridge into a job market being reshaped by technology, regional industry needs and fast-moving economic change.

The program is expected to serve 480 students across the two campuses from 2025 through 2027. State officials say demand is already strong, reflecting a broader interest in career-readiness training that goes beyond traditional degree requirements.

“California is reimagining what a world-class university education looks like in the 21st century. The UC Degree Plus Program and UC Extension Center connect Californians with real-world skills and careers – meeting students and working professionals where they are, and better preparing them for where the economy is going,” Governor Gavin Newsom said.

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The effort is designed to bring UC education into closer alignment with employer needs while improving career readiness, employment outcomes and long-term earnings. Officials also expect it to strengthen industry and public-sector partnerships, expand paid internship options across California and test whether the model could eventually be used more widely across the UC system.

The pilot also builds on the wider reach of the UC Extension network, which is available across nine UC campuses and serves more than 300,000 people each year. Through those programs, students, working professionals and community members can earn certificates, build new skills, advance in their fields, shift into new careers or pursue personal enrichment.

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Newsom’s office tied the UC Degree Plus launch to California’s larger workforce strategy, including the Governor’s Master Plan for Career Education, released in 2025. That plan aims to connect education, training and employment so more Californians can gain useful skills and access good-paying jobs without taking on more debt. Under Newsom’s leadership, the state has created 674,735 earn-and-learn opportunities and 245,342 registered apprenticeships, surpassing the governor’s goal of 500,000 apprenticeships by 2029.

The effort also connects to California Jobs First, which aligns workforce investments with regional economic priorities. In 2025 alone, the initiative drove nearly $1.6 billion in investments to train more than 142,000 workers and help create more than 61,000 jobs across California’s 13 economic regions.

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For UC, the program adds another layer to a system already described as a major engine of California’s economy, research and innovation. With patents, startups, medical care, social mobility gains and thousands of supported jobs, the university system is now testing how its degrees can carry even more practical value into the future workforce.