Figuring out how to get into college can be daunting to any student, but CSU-Monterey Bay and local community colleges have been building a smooth track into the university.

For the past few years, CSUMB has been working on a feeder program with the colleges -- Hartnell, Monterey Peninsula, Cabrillo, Gavilan and Evergreen Valley -- to spare students the bureaucratic hassles of college admissions. If students follow the program and meet all requirements, they're guaranteed admission into CSUMB.

It looks as if their work is paying off. Gone is the frustrating guesswork in selecting courses, transferring credits and choosing a four-year university. That's hard enough for college-savvy students, but even more so for those who normally don't think of themselves as college material.

By standardizing courses, offering extra help and giving students early exposure to CSUMB during their community college years, colleges help once-nervous freshmen arrive at the university fully prepared as juniors.

Community college students in the Degree Partnership Program "begin to think of themselves of getting a (bachelor's degree)," said Carla Pew, CSUMB's vice provost for academic administration.

To get into the program, students need to have no more than 15 college credits, so they're usually graduating seniors or just into their community college career. Some have heard about it at high school college fairs. Others, if they've tried but failed to get into CSUMB, are encouraged to go through a community college first.

There they can take remedial classes if needed. The courses they take later in areas such as math and English are recognized by CSUMB. Those all mesh well with the university curriculum, because CSUMB professors have worked with community college instructors to coordinate courses.

And because students are on the CSUMB track, they also get access to many of the university's resources and activities while they're at their transfer colleges.

"They're already beginning to think of themselves as a CSUMB student," Pew said.

The feeder program is a fairly new part of an overall college partnership, and started producing students for CSUMB just two years ago.

So far numbers are up. Last spring, the program had 38 students on track toward CSUMB. This spring it was up to 48, and 13 of those had already applied for admission into the university.

The program has drawn praise from both Hartnell and Monterey Peninsula College. Carole Bogue-Feinour, MPC's vice president for academic affairs, said a recent survey suggested feeder students do even better than those who begin as freshmen at CSUMB.

CSUMB spokeswoman Holly White said, "Students either see themselves as college material or they don't. In reality, most people are. They just need the preparation. This levels the playing field."