For Communities
• Provides a safe place for young people to be after school
• Provides trained volunteers for community programs
• Extends access to technology and educational resources
• Promotes youth development

For Schools
• Re-engages underserved students
• Supports academic preparation
• Explores fresh approaches to teaching and learning
• Provides technical assistance and after-school resources

For K-12 Children
• Provides positive role models
• Opens the path to higher learning
• Improves reading and writing
• Builds digital skills and knowledge

For University Students
• Provides real world experience
• Connects theory and practice
• Builds observation, research, and teaching skills
• Prepares for graduate and professional training

For Universities
• Promotes engaged scholarship
• Improves undergraduate and graduate education
• Integrates public service, teaching, and research
• Forges community partnerships

Each UC Links site location is a collaboration among local community, school, and university partners. UC Links faculty teach university courses with service components that place their students at local after-school sites.

At each site, university and community partners use digital media and other hands-on resources to create learning activities for local youth. Guided by undergraduates, youth in the program take part in activities that promote academic preparation and enthusiasm for higher learning.

UC Links partners carry out and evaluate these activities locally and also share ideas and experiences with each other across sites. Together, we contribute to an increased understanding of effective learning activities for underserved youth from diverse backgrounds.

Established in 1996, UC Links has been active for more than a decade as a collaborative community-university network. Together we work to sustain quality after-school programs that help prepare underserved youth for higher learning and lifelong achievement. As a statewide network of programs, UC Links has grown from 14 sites in 1996-97 to 34 sites in 2008-09. In 2005, UC Links became a part of the University of California’s Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnership (SAPEP) programs. In the last 13 years, UC Links has served over 10,000 youth in diverse communities across the State of California. UC Links approaches to after-school learning were originally based on the Fifth Dimension and La Clase Magica but now include a broader array of activities and program models.

For a five-minute video about UC Links, click on the image below.