AvenueB Creates a Path to Success for Biology Students

The Genentech Foundation has donated $2.5 million to the University of California, Davis, College of Biological Sciences — the college’s largest single gift ever — to fund a program that will help biology students transferring from community college. Called AvenueB, the program will provide financial support and preparatory programs for students going to four-year university. According to the Campaign for College Opportunity, students transferring from community colleges to a University of California campus may pay $36,000 more in tuition and fees than those who enter as freshmen. Challenges such as coordinating class requirements, units and fees — the so-called transfer maze — can delay a student’s path to success and result in unnecessary costs.