Southeast : MOVING UP

Cerritos College wants its students to go study somewhere else.

The Norwalk school, which offers a variety of vocational and academic programs, will soon be pushing students in the direction of university life.

Too often, college officials say, students see the campus as an end-all to higher education. A new emphasis by President Fred Gaskin seeks to change their minds.

Plans include hosting a ceremony every year for students who transfer to universities, as well as adding their names to a prominent Wall of Fame. College staff members also want to invite students who have transferred to advise current students how to plan for and complete the move.

Counselor Steven Helfgot said many students at the college are the first in their families to attain higher education. For them, he said, the experience is rife with monetary and paperwork pitfalls that could be avoided with encouragement and advice.

According to one estimate, about 15% of the college’s 22,000 students transfer to a four-year college.