In today's fast-paced knowledge economy, learning does not stop with a bachelor's, master's, or even a doctoral degree. Continuing education isn't a luxury—in fact, lifelong learning is a necessity.

UCSD Extended Studies and Public Programs (Extension), with an annual enrollment of 40,000, provides the pivotal link between knowledge and the diverse communities of San Diego. By offering a wide range of professional education programs and dialogue groups, corporate partnerships, and community education initiatives, Extension is helping to build the global competitiveness of the San Diego region. A distinctive program of postbaccalaureate certificate and executive education programs is assuring the region of a workforce that will not only manage but lead change and innovation. Innovative programs such as UCSD CONNECT and San Diego Dialogue are helping to shape the future of the region's economy.

UCSD CONNECT helps technology entrepreneurs find the resources they need for success by linking them through networking programs to the financial, marketing, management, and business know-how they need to succeed. A recent study reported that 124 San Diego-based companies who participated in UCSD CONNECT's Biotechnology Corporate Partnership Forum between 1989 and 1999 had an average of six high-level ties with UC San Diego and related institutions.

San Diego Dialogue and the UCSD Civic Collaborative provide important settings for community discourse on public policy issues, governmental and organizational strategies, and the challenges and opportunities of civic life at the regional and neighborhood levels. UCSD-TV and UCTV provide 800,000 households in San Diego with access to cutting-edge issues at a depth not available through other local broadcast media. Programs provide insight into local, regional, and global issues, and the ideas and cultural forces shaping our future.

Extension's cutting-edge curriculum and innovative partnerships with companies such as Ericsson and SAIC, coupled with state-of-the art training centers in Sorrento Mesa and Rancho Bernardo, prepare more than 10,000 scientists and engineers annually. Through these many vehicles—lifelong learning, corporate and community partnerships, local and regional discourse groups, research on regional issues, and in-depth television programming—UCSD Extension links the people of San Diego with the knowledge needed to assure continued prosperity and a superior quality of life.