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California: New UC Degree Plus Pilot Program shows demand for career-readiness training

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May 1, 2026

New UC Degree Plus Pilot Program shows demand for career-readiness training

What you need to know: The recently launched UC Degree Plus Program is showing early signs of success as the state connects UC students with experiences invaluable to the modern workforce, like career-readiness training and paid internship programs.

SACRAMENTO –Governor Gavin Newsom today highlighted the efforts of the University of California (UC) system to better prepare undergraduate students for a rapidly changing workforce influenced by tech-driven economic change.

The UC Degree Plus Program, launched in 2025, is a two-year pilot program currently available at no additional cost to UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) and UC San Diego (UCSD) students, combining a UC bachelor's degree with skills-based certificates and paid internships to strengthen workforce readiness, connect students with employers, and improve career outcomes in an increasingly competitive labor market. The UC Degree Plus program will serve 480 students across both campuses from 2025-2027 and is already in high demand.

The UC Extension Center is available across nine UC campuses and serves over 300,000 people each year learning new skills relevant to their fields to earn certificates or transition into new fields. UC Extension offers a comprehensive range of educational opportunities tailored to the needs of the community and working professionals seeking to advance in their current field, upskill, transition to new careers, or pursue personal enrichment.

"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

Anticipated outcomes of the UC Degree Plus Program include:
  • Strengthened alignment between UC education and employer needs
  • Improved employment outcomes, career readiness, and long-term earnings
  • Stronger industry and public sector partnerships
  • Expanded high-quality internship opportunities across California industries
  • A scalable model or UC-wide adoption

More jobs. More opportunities

Governor Newsom is strengthening opportunities for Californians – by creating more jobs, workforce education, and pathways for advancement.

Released in 2025, Governor Newsom's Master Plan for Career Education is strengthening California's skilled workforce by connecting education, training, and employment to help more Californians build on the skills they already have and gain new ones to access good-paying jobs without the burden of taking on debt. Under the Governor's leadership, California has created 674,735 earn-and-learn opportunities statewide, as well as 245,342 registered apprenticeships  — surpassing the Governor's goal of creating 500,000 apprenticeships by 2029.

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This builds on the Governor's California Jobs First Initiative, which aligns workforce investments with regional economic priorities so training programs prepare Californians to work in the industries that are driving sustainable growth throughout the state. Through California Jobs First Economic Blueprint, the state is training workers and supporting job creation across all 13 economic regions, targeting key industries such as construction, health care, education, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, aerospace and defense, life sciences, and agtech. In 2025 alone, California Jobs First  drove nearly $1.6 billion in investments to train more than 142,000 workers and help create more than  61,000 new jobs across California's 13 economic regions.

The UC system: a Californian success story

The UC system is a powerhouse for innovation and California's economy. The state's world-class higher education system boasts impressive results:
  • The UC ranked No. 1 worldwide for U.S. utility patents in 2025 with 571 patents.
  • UC had 288 Highly Cited Researchers in 2025, equal to 4.2% of the world total on the list.
  • UC averages four inventions per day. In fiscal year 2024, UC reported 1,529 inventions disclosed, 67 startups from UC IP/technology, and 14,665 active U.S. and foreign patents. UC operations support 529,000 California jobs, about 1 in 45 jobs.
  • UC reports $82 billion in economic impact and $55.8 billion in contributions to gross state product.
  • UC reports that 53% of California undergraduates have tuition fully covered, and 63% graduate without any educational loan debt.
  • In the 2026 U.S. News rankings, UC Berkeley and UCLA were the top two public universities. Seven UC campuses were in the top 25 public universities, and all nine undergraduate campuses were in the top 45.
  • UC Riverside ranked No. 1 and UC Merced ranked No. 3 for social mobility in the 2026 U.S. News rankings.
  • UC Health cares for 2.5 million patients each year, including people from 99% of California ZIP codes, and has specialists in more than 150 areas of medicine.

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