With a burst of confetti and an official jersey swap, the University of the Pacific (UOP) is now the official higher education partner of the San Francisco 49ers.

"We have a lot of partnerships, but nothing is like partnering with the San Francisco 49ers," University of the Pacific President Christopher Callahan said.

Hundreds of people gathered at the University Center on campus to hear the big announcement on Friday.

Not only are the students excited, but so is the staff.

"Our students will get to learn from the best of the best at the 49ers," UOP Vice President of Academic Affairs Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert explained. "They'll get to apply what they have in the classroom, whether it's health, exercise, science, business, communications, everything they'll learn from people who are professionals and they'll learn how to be better at what they might want to go into."

This partnership focuses strictly on education and allowing students to gain real-world experience from professionals.

"Every dimension that a major corporation would have is embedded within this fantastic sports team," Callahan continued. "To have our students be able to engage and to have internships there, and research projects coordinated with the team, we think that's going to be a game changer for our students and our university."

It also benefits the 49ers' championship organization.

"There's some opportunities for guest lecturing and hands-on experiences with the faculty, which is just things that we aren't able to provide to our employees that the University of the Pacific will be able to do for us," San Francisco 49ers Chief People Officer Harpret Basran shared.

The team was the one who reached out to the university, asking them to join forces. As the Niners and college said, it was all based on similar values.

"It was building out our workforce and continuous growth within our organization and within our people, and they seem to do that really well here," Basran said. "Just the level of care that they give into, not even just an event today, but to their students and what they do to go above and beyond just means a lot."

Another perk of this partnership is the watch parties. University of the Pacific will be hosting these events on campus at the University Center so students and staff can watch any 49ers game.

The first watch party will be this Sunday, starting at 11 a.m.