Tackling the Teacher Shortage—Together: California Community Colleges and California State University Launch Effort to Strengthen Teacher Pipeline

January 26, 2026

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Community Colleges and the California State University (CSU) are strengthening their strategic partnership by unveiling a jointly developed toolkit tailored to address the state’s teacher shortage. The PAVE Toolkit—Pathways for Advancing Visionary Educators—is a purposeful, action-oriented guide designed to ensure students experience a clear, high-quality, and well-supported journey through both the CSU and the community colleges. This effort will ultimately lead students to successful careers as educators in California.

While the state is making strides in growing its pool of credentialed teachers, persistent shortages remain. There are currently more than 10,000 teacher vacancies and California has one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios in the country. Aiming to fulfill this critical need, the CSU and the California Community Colleges are building on their solid collaboration to create inclusive, seamless transfer pathways and scalable models that prepare a diverse and effective teaching workforce.

“By uniting our efforts, the California Community Colleges and the CSU are not just working side by side, we’re creating lasting solutions to strengthen and expand the education pipeline,” said Cheri Fortin, dean of Workforce and Economic Development Division at the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. “The ultimate goal of the PAVE Toolkit is to help build a streamlined and accessible route for aspiring teachers that saves time and reduces barriers.”

The 22-page PAVE Toolkit includes high-impact actions and promising practices organized by essential focus areas/themes, real-world stories, and partnership examples, along with key reports and resources to guide local strategy and implementation.

“We hope this toolkit serves as a meaningful resource for creating more effective and inclusive pathways for future educators,” said Hilary Seitz, director of Educator and Leadership Programs at the CSU Chancellor’s Office. “It also reflects our longstanding commitment to working alongside the California Community Colleges to meet the state’s evolving workforce needs.”

The CSU and the California Community Colleges both play vital roles in the state’s educator pipeline, thus strong partnerships between the two systems are essential. More than half of CSU students in teacher education programs transferred from a California community college. And the CSU produces nearly half of the state’s credentialed educators—with more than 7,700 credentials issued in the last year alone.

Both systems hope the toolkit will help replicate successful collaboration models, including one between Sonoma State University and Mendocino College. As detailed in the toolkit, a teacher residency program between Mendocino College, in Ukiah, and Sonoma State has produced a robust teacher pipeline partnerships where students can earn associate degrees to Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts to Multiple Subject Credentials—all offered on-site in Ukiah. This allows students to continue their education without having to relocate. In the program’s first year, 100% of student-graduates were hired by local schools, many of which were in need of credentialed teachers. This partnership and others in the area are building programs to grow the next generation of teachers from within their own community.

Currently, 115 community colleges offer early childhood and elementary education programs, along with other educator preparation pathways, that collaborate directly with 22 CSU campuses. The PAVE Toolkit builds on this foundation, providing a roadmap to deepen those connections and improve outcomes for aspiring teachers statewide.

For a full look at the PAVE Toolkit, visit either the Education Sector page of the California Community Colleges website or the CSU Pathway for Advancing Visionary Educators site.

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About the California Community Colleges
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 116 colleges serving 2.2 million students per year. California community colleges provide career education and workforce training; guaranteed transfer to four-year universities; and degree and certificate pathways. As the state’s engine for social and economic mobility, the California Community Colleges supports the Vision 2030, a strategic plan designed to improve student success, our communities and our planet. For more information, please visit the California Community Colleges website or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

About the California State University
The California State University is the nation’s largest four-year public university system, providing transformational opportunities for upward mobility to more than 470,000 students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. More than half of CSU students are from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, and more than one-quarter of undergraduates are first-generation college students. Because the CSU’s 22 universities provide a high-quality education at an incredible value, they are rated among the best in the nation for promoting social mobility in national college rankings from U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly. The CSU powers California and the nation, sending nearly 125,000 career-ready graduates into the workforce each year. In fact, one in every 20 Americans holding a college degree earned it at the CSU. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU newsroom.

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