USC will teach graduate-level courses at Southwestern College in Chula Vista

Southwestern College’s push to become a big satellite campus for universities that offer degrees the Chula Vista school currently can’t confer has added the University of Southern California to a list of high-profile partners.

USC says it will begin offering master’s and doctoral degree programs at Southwestern this summer, at the same time UC San Diego, San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos are introducing bachelor’s degree courses.

Southwestern faculty, staff and administrators will have an opportunity to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in the field of education. The courses will be taught by USC faculty during visits to Chula Vista.

South County does not have have a large, full-service university of its own. And Southwestern is a public community college that is still seeking permission from the state to earn the right to offer a small number of bachelor’s degree programs. The school is trying to close the gap a bit by having universities set up shop in Chula Vista.

The partnership with USC “is going to help us train the next generation of faculty and staff practitioners — those who work with students every day in new and innovative ways,” said Southwestern President Mark Sanchez.

This will not be a new venture for USC, which is nearly 150 years old.

“We have global programs where we bring our faculty to places like Singapore, Finland, South Africa and Brazil,” said Pedro Noguera, dean of USC’s Rossier Schoo...