ASU, Golden West College partnership allows student to pursue dream of business degree

Ever since participating in a business competition in high school, Cameron Prohaska knew he wanted a career in the field. He also knew that he would need to pursue higher education to meet that goal, but didn’t feel quite ready for college straight out of high school.

After taking some time off to develop his interests and launch a small business selling clothes, Prohaska enrolled in Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, where he focused on economics and completed his associate’s degree.

Around that time, he learned of the Starbucks College Achievement Plan at Arizona State University, which provides 100% tuition coverage for eligible U.S. partnersStarbucks refers to its employees as partners.. That was all Prohaska needed to convince him ASU was the place to pursue his bachelor’s degree.

The icing on the cake was learning that Golden West College had formed an alliance with ASU to provide students a seamless transfer experience through the MyPath2ASU program.

MyPath2ASU is a set of customized tools available to transfer students from accredited, U.S. regional institutions. These tools ensure a smooth transition to ASU after earning credits or an associate degree from a U.S. community college or university, and also shorten the time to degree completion.

“The ASU pathway program helped me through seeing what tasks I needed to get done next. I was able to remain organized and focused by staying on track and being in contact with my ASU counselor on a semi-weekly basis,” Prohaska said.

Through the MyPath2ASU partnership, students have access to personalized benefits to help them navigate the transfer experience, including:

• End-to-end learner navigation through 400 course-by-course guided pathways into on-campus, local and ASU Online degree programs.
• Insurance of course applicability through assistance with selecting courses that apply to their associate and ASU bachelor’s degree.
• Guaranteed general admission to ASU and admission into MyPath2ASU major choice if all requirements are satisfied. (Some majors have additional or higher admission requirements.)
• Self-service, degree progress tracking through My Transfer Guide to minimize loss of credit.
• Connected experience through personalized ASU communications to prepare academically and build a connection to ASU.

“At Golden West College, we care about our students not only while they take classes with us, but also when they move on to transfer institutions,” said Meridith Randall, vice president of instruction. “Our partnership with ASU is an integral step in ensuring a seamless transition for students to the next step in their higher education journey.”

Here, Prohaska shares more about his journey from community college to the accountancy BS program in the W. P. Carey School of Business, as well as some advice for other transfer students.

Cameron Prohaska

Question: Why did you choose ASU?

Answer: I chose ASU because of the professors and classes. I have friends that are ASU alumni and they have always told me great things about how smooth the courses run each session. Working at Starbucks and being aware of the ASU SCAPStarbucks College Achievement Plan program, I began to act on transferring to the university as soon as I became eligible.

Q: What have you enjoyed most about your ASU experience so far?

A: I have really enjoyed the classes. Each class online is very structured and organized, which makes it easier as a student to follow and keep up with. One of my strengths is following instruction, and I like that the classes are set up to help me stay on task by keeping up to date with my calendar for deadlines and due dates.

Q: What are your plans after you graduate with your bachelor's degree?

A: My plan is to work for a company where I can do accounting, but I also want to get my master's and find more information on earning that so I can strengthen my experience and resume.

Q: What do you do in your spare time to advance your goals?

A: I enjoy buying and selling clothes in my spare time when I can afford to. Learning about the market for secondhand clothes as well as brand new clothing items to sell for profit actually got me interested in accounting. I was able to learn a lot more about gross profit and how I wanted to grow in the future if I want to start up my own business someday.

Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to a new transfer student?

A: One piece of advice I would give to a new transfer student is to find out the school's student support number. This helped me get in contact with an ASU success coach and made my transfer process way easier on me. I was able to quickly set up an appointment easily, and they were available pretty quickly. The success coach also answered all of my questions that I needed help answering and finding solutions to.

Watch Prohaska share his story below: