Dave Alley
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Allan Hancock College and California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) announced a partnership on Monday morning to create a new Bachelor of Science in Nursing program that will be held in Santa Maria beginning next year.
The new program is intended for students who are nearing completion of an associate degree in nursing, or those who are have already earned an associate degree and are now working in the nursing industry, and wish to pursue a higher level of education.
“We are super excited,” said Kevin Walthers, Allan Hancock College Superintendent/President. “We’re going to be able to offer space for Channel Islands to come offer a nursing degree here in Santa Maria, so a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is a great way for our local health care professionals to advance their careers.”
According to the two schools, students enrolled in the new program will meet face-to-face with CSUCI faculty on the Hancock College Santa Maria campus during the start, midpoint and end of each course, and will have access to local academic and student support services throughout their enrollment in the program.
“The BSN falls on us at CSU Channel Islands,” said Richard Yao, CSUCI President. “The beauty of it, it is a hybrid model. Some folks call hybrids a low residency, but it’s primarily online education, and then that key points during the educational journey, they will be meeting here on the Hancock College campus as a cohort, and really, it’s not just about instruction, it’s more about community building sense of belonging because as you know, a nursing degree is very challenging and you need that cohort based support and academic support, so we’re very excited about that component as well.”
The new nursing program is expected to include an initial cohort of 15 to 20 students for the launch in fall 2026.
“It’s very important for us because one of our core missions is to serve regional needs,” said Yao. “While our immediate service region includes Ventura County and Southern Santa Barbara County, we know that there’s a huge need here in Northern Santa Barbara County, and so we’re very excited to be very intentional and data informed about how we partner, and who we partner with and how we do so, and to be able to meet the needs of this region, which we know are significant, and in a way that allows them to do it in very efficient and effective ways while scaling up accordingly, is very exciting.”
The announcement of the new partnership with CSUCI comes on the heels of a similar announcement in March when Hancock joined with Cal Poly to create a historic partnership that will provide students with the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in Santa Maria.
Beginning in Fall 2026, Cal Poly will begin to offer classes on Hancock’s Santa Maria campus which will allow students to earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Hancock College and Cal Poly also announced in March two additional bachelor’s degree programs will be offered starting in 2028 and 2030.
In fall 2024, Cal Poly and Hancock started its first collaboration beginning a bachelor’s degree program for sociology students.
“In fall of 2026, we will have, a bachelors degree in sociology, a bachelors degree in business from Cal Poly, and then this (BSN) from CSU Channel Islands,” said Walthers. “Then two years after that, we will add another degree from Cal Poly and that’s really going to serve our community. We’re going to see probably about 400 students a year that are going to get served out of those programs.”
For Walthers, who has been working on bringing opportunities for students to earn four-year degrees to the Hancock Santa Maria campus, the new CSUCI partnership is another major victory for higher education for the city and region.
“I think it’s important that policymakers throughout the state start to understand what the geography is in this region,” said Walthers. “You can’t just drive ten miles or 20 miles to a university. There’s just not that opportunity here, so we need to be able to bring the components that will serve our community here to Hancock. Our trustees have been great about making sure that we’re providing the kind of space and access we need to make that successful for everybody.”
For many nursing students, having the opportunity to earn a BSN is a huge game changer and provides them with the ability to continue their education at home in the Santa Maria area.
“It’s life changing and it encourages us nursing students to pursue a higher level of education,” said Hancock College nursing student Rachael Belunza. “It’s meaningful that we don’t have to commute. We don’t have to take that long commute every day to achieve our education. It gives us more time for our families, more time for studying, and enables us to work while we continue to go to school.”
The new program is begin financially backed by a $1.15 million grant from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.
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