New partnership unites two organizations around a shared commitment to educational access and opportunity for first-generation students across California

OAKLAND, Calif., May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- College Track, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all students have the opportunity to earn a college degree, today announced a formal partnership with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). The partnership marks a significant milestone in College Track's expanding network of college and university partnerships, deepening its commitment to opening doors to higher education for under-resourced students.

UC Davis is consistently one of the top enrollment destinations for College Track's California scholars each year. This partnership formalizes and deepens that relationship, reflecting a shared belief that expanding access to higher education requires sustained institutional commitment.

At the heart of the partnership is a common conviction: that access to higher education should not be determined by circumstance. Both College Track and UC Davis have long invested in programs and structures that support first-generation and under-resourced students, and this partnership is an expression of that shared mission.

"This partnership demonstrates how a nonprofit and a research university can come together to fuel first-generation student success," says Shirley M. Collado, Ph.D., College Track President and CEO. "UC Davis has long been a destination for College Track's California scholars, and our agreement not only formalizes our existing relationship, it deepens it in meaningful ways."

The partnership with UC Davis reflects a broader movement across higher education to meet first-generation students with the institutional support they need to not only enroll, but to succeed and graduate. For both organizations, it is an opportunity to signal clearly that access and equity are not peripheral concerns. They are central to what higher education should be.

"Earning a college degree changes the course of a student's life, creating new opportunities for personal growth and generational economic mobility," said UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May. "At UC Davis, we're committed to ensuring those opportunities are within reach for talented students from every background. We look forward to partnering with College Track to help more students achieve their college dreams."

The UC Davis partnership is the latest in a growing network of college and university relationships College Track has built to ensure its scholars have every advantage as they pursue and complete their degrees. By pairing long-term mentorship and academic support with direct institutional relationships like the one formalized with UC Davis, College Track continues to build a pipeline where first-generation and under-resourced students don't just apply to college — they belong there, and they graduate.

About College Track

College Track's mission is to equip first-generation scholars to earn a bachelor's degree and build lives filled with opportunity, choice, purpose, and power.

Today, more than 4,800 College Track high school and college students across California, Colorado, Louisiana, and the D.C.–Maryland area are pursuing their goal of becoming the first in their family to graduate from college.

Across the country, our alumni represent what's possible when first-generation scholars have long-term support and access to higher education. Ninety percent of our scholars are the first in their family to attend college, and 84 percent come from under-resourced communities. They graduate at more than two and a half times the national rate for first-generation peers.

Learn more about our work to expand opportunity and redefine what's possible for the next generation of college graduates at collegetrack.org.

About the University of California, Davis

UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe.

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SOURCE College Track