UCSD - University of California - San Diego

12/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/09/2025 11:16

UC San Diego Launches Degree Plus to Empower Graduates for the Modern Workforce

Published Date

December 09, 2025

Article Content

The University of California is sharpening its focus on the transition from education to employment, responding to mounting evidence that graduates across the country are encountering difficulty translating their academic preparation into strong early-career outcomes. This concern-surfacing prominently for system leadership through analyses such as the New York Federal Reserve's report on graduate underemployment-has catalyzed a renewed commitment from the UC Office of the President (UCOP) and the Board of Regents to ensure that UC graduates are exceptionally well prepared for a rapidly changing labor market.

Degree Plus, a new UCOP-supported pilot launching at UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, is a core part of the university's effort to improve early-career outcomes. The initiative adds free skills-based certificates-backed by the Lumina and Strada Foundations-to traditional majors. Delivered through UC San Diego's Division of Extended Studies and UC Santa Barbara's Professional and Continuing Education, the certificates give students the chance to build applied knowledge, gain work experience and earn a résumé-ready credential before graduation.

Beginning Winter Quarter 2026, the Degree Pluspilot at UC San Diego will include students from the School of Arts and Humanities, the School of Physical Sciences, and the School of Social Sciences. All majors within the School of Arts and Humanities may pursue a free Arts Management certificate, which develops organizational and managerial skills for nonprofits and other humanities-focused organizations. Chemistry and Biochemistry, Physics, and Mathematics majors may enroll in the Project and Process Management certificate, which introduces project management frameworks, team collaboration, and foundational Lean Six Sigma concepts relevant to research and technical environments. Political Science and Sociology majors may pursue a free certificate in Data Analysis and Visualization, building skills in analytical tools, data interpretation, and visualization used across the public and private sectors.

Degree Plus is a free online skills-based certificate program with the option of a paid internship.

Each certificate is taught by industry practitioners and features practical assignments, exposure to professional tools, and an optional internship that allows students to explore real-world workplace settings. The program also leverages UC San Diego's campus-wide strengths, drawing on workshops, tools, and advising from the Career Services Center; experiential learning resources within the Teaching + Learning Commons; and a growing network of engaged alumni who are eager to mentor current students. The program is structured to fit within a student's existing degree path and does not add time-to-degree or additional tuition. As Peter McCrory, Head of Economics at Anthropic and former lead of labor research at LinkedIn's Economic Graph Research Institute, has noted, "Building general purpose capabilities and skills is a great way for public institutions to meet underinvestment from the private sector," highlighting the value of programs like Degree Plus in preparing students for evolving work environments.

The vision behind Degree Plus is straightforward: to complement the strengths of a UC education with targeted skills that support stronger workforce outcomes; to ensure that every student, regardless of major, has access to applied learning opportunities; and to respond to the Regents' call for academic programs that are both intellectually rigorous and directly responsive to labor-market realities. Katherine Newman, systemwide Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at UC Berkeley, has explained, "We don't want to reduce higher education to a training function. But we have students who are worried about their futures, and their families are worried about their futures, and the bills are rising."

Dr. Su Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes and former professor of Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Sacramento, underscores the importance of programs like Degree Plus from both a student and policy perspective. "For a lot of first-generation students who don't have professional networks at home, it's not obvious what to do with a bachelor's degree," she says. "It would be really valuable if students had guidance on what skills are needed for the labor market and how to acquire work experience early. At the same time, state leaders need to understand workforce shortages and align higher education with these needs-without undermining the broader mission of colleges to educate adaptable, critical thinkers."

"We don't want to reduce higher education to a training function. But we have students who are worried about their futures, and their families are worried about their futures, and the bills are rising." Katherine Newman, Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of California

As a UCOP initiative, the pilot will undergo careful evaluation with the goal of informing future expansion across the University of California system.

UCSD - University of California - San Diego published this content on December 09, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on December 09, 2025 at 17:16 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]