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SIGN THE PLEDGE!
1MM Kicks Off With Great Sacramento Event; SoCal Event This Friday at CSUN
(July 28, 2010) The Campaign kicked off its “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” campaign with a fantastic event at the state Capitol last Wednesday, July 21.
 Over 300 supporters and student winners joined us as we presented a ceremonial check for $5.3 billion to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell on behalf of the state of California to demonstrate the return on investment the state would receive for producing one million additional college graduates.
“We need to send a strong message to the next Governor,” said Michele Siqueiros, executive director of The Campaign, “that in order to improve our economy and create jobs we will need to invest in college opportunity and increase college graduation rates.”
 She then asked participants to sign their “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” (1MM) campaign pledge urging the next Governor to make higher education a priority. The 1MM theme was prominent throughout the event, as students sitting in the audience were later asked to wave $1 million bills, symbolic of the $1 million they will earn in excess over their lifetime if they graduate from college over their peers who graduate only from high school.
A highlight of the day was the awarding of $150,000 in scholarships to over 300 middle and high school students from throughout the state who were selected as winners of this year’s Save Me a Spot in College scholarship contest, the fifith and final year. During the past five years, more than 53,000 students have made their voices heard by participating in the scholarship contest. Because Save Me a Spot in College has been supported by major funding from the College Access Foundation, Jay Sherwin, Vice President for Programs for the foundation, participated in the ceremony by handing out certificates and congratulating student winners.
Several Champions for College Opportunity were also honored at the event, including Assemblymembers Paul Fong, Connie Conway, and Jim Beall; Reid Milburn, student senate for California Community Colleges; the College Access Foundation of California; the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy; and the Public Policy Institute of California. All expressed support for the mission of The Campaign, with many saying that their efforts at improving higher education in the state were furthered by our work.
The Campaign is hosting a Southern California One Million More Reception this Friday, July 30, at California State University, Northridge. Please RSVP here. If you would like more information about this event, please contact Stephanie Romero-Crockett at 213-817-6034. Read Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Letter of Welcome to the event.
“1MM Campaign” kicks off with SoCal reception next Friday
(July 23, 2010) The Campaign for College Opportunity will be hosting an event next Friday, July 30, at California State University, Northridge, to launch our “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” campaign and to recognize this year’s Save Me A Spot in College scholarship winners.
State Senator Alex Padilla, State Assembly Speaker John Perez, and The California State Student Association will also be honored as Champions for College Opportunity at the event, which takes place at the Orange Grove Bistro at the University Club (near the corner of Nordhoff and Zelzah). Please RSVP here. If you would like more information about this event, please contact Stephanie Romero-Crockett at 213-817-6034.
The Campaign launched its One Million More College Graduates by 2025 Campaign this month to raise awareness among Californians that an additional one million college graduates are needed in our state by 2025 to maintain our quality of life, remain competitive, and meet our workforce needs. The campaign will also serve to encourage the next Governor of California to put forward a specific plan that will prioritize and invest in higher education in order to keep our economy strong and produce jobs.
We have sponsored the Save Me a Spot in College Scholarship Contest for the past five years as a way of hearing from students across the state on why they and their peers should be saved a spot in college and how they are a part of the million more college graduates we need in the future. We will be recognizing winners and honorable mentions that are present at the events with a certificate, as well as acknowledging contest partners for their efforts to build a college-going culture amongst their students to prepare them for the future.
New campaign focusing on producing one million more college graduates in Calif. by 2025 up and running
(June 24, 2010) The Campaign has launched a new campaign, One Million More College Graduates by 2025 (1MM), to alert Californians about the need to produce one million additional college graduates by 2025 in order to keep our economy strong and preserve our quality of life.
Components of the campaign include a pledge urging the state's next Governor to put forward a specific plan that will prioritize and invest in higher education in order to keep our economy strong and produce jobs that meet our workforce needs, a new Facebook page, and our 'I'm One in a Million' college scholarship contest.
Please join Judy Patrick, Allan Zaremberg, Constance Rice, David Valladolid, James Doti, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other fellow Californians in signing the pledge. Click here to see the full list.
And tell your friends about the campaign. Thanks!
Conversation focuses on PPIC recommendations for updated Master Plan
(May 5, 2010) The Campaign for College Opportunity hosted the latest in its series of Statewide Conversations on College Opportunity and Student Success on May 4 with a conference call focused on the future of the state’s Master Plan for Higher Education. Hans Johnson, Associate Director of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) presented the findings of the PPIC’s new report, Higher Education in California: New Goals for the Master Plan, which proposes that the plan set explicit new goals in several key areas, including University of California and California State University eligibility levels, community college transfers to four-year institutions, and college completion rates.
Participating in the call with Johnson were state Senator Alex Padilla, a member of the Master Plan for Higher Education Committee; Denis Udall with the Hewlett Foundation; and Campaign Executive Director Michele Siqueiros.
Click here for the audio of this conversation.
In an otherwise bleak year for education, the Legislature and the Governor have an opportunity to join us in making history by improving the transfer pathway for community colleges to a four-year university. Either one of these two bills will provide for a smoother transfer pathway for California’s students, while at the same time saving the state millions of dollars and freeing up capacity to serve more students.
SB 1440 (Padilla) - Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR) Act
The Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR) Act by Senator Alex Padilla (D-20) with Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-22) as principal co-author, would provide community college students with a clearer pathway to transfer, an Associate Degree in recognition of their work, guaranteed admission to the California State University (CSU) system, and junior status upon enrolling in the CSU. We are thrilled to be working closely on this legislation with the chancellors for both the California Community College (CCC) and CSU systems, the California Community College Student Senate, and the California State Student Association. SB 1440 has successfully passed both the Senate and the Assembly Higher Education Committee. It will be heard next in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on August 4.
View the SB 1440 summary
See a list of bill supporters
AB 2302 (Fong) - Statewide Transfer Pathway
The current transfer process is complex and confusing, resulting in student frustration and contributing to the state's low transfer rates. Improving community college transfer will be key to creating student success to meet future workforce demands. AB 2302 complements SB 1440 and helps facilitate the successful implementation of transparent transfer pathways that will improve the efficiency of the transfer process and the state’s future economic prosperity. The bill calls for the University of California (UC) to develop a transfer pathway for students holding transfer associate degrees, requires the CSU and CCC to notify students of the new transfer pathway created in SB 1440, and ensures that implementation of historic transfer reform is effective, transparent, and student-centered. AB 2302 has cleared the Assembly and Senate Education Committee and will be heard next by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
View AB 2302 summary
See a list of bill supporters
AB 2542 (Conway) - Accelerating Student Success College
Accelerating Student Success College was designed as a pilot program that would authorize five community colleges to receive funding based on course completion in exchange for flexibility on a handful of state rules and regulations. We believe that a new funding formula, alongside local flexibility, would help strengthen the focus and support for student success. We recognize that fundamentally changing the way that community colleges receive their funding is controversial, but we provided the safeguards that would ensure that participating colleges would not suffer a decrease in resources.
We were fortunate to find a champion in Assemblywoman Connie Conway to help move this bill forward. AB 2542 fell one vote shy of passage last week from the Assembly Higher Education Committee amidst strong opposition from the California Teachers Association, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, and the California Federation of Teachers. We are proud of the supporters who joined us in advocating for the bill’s passage, including Californians for Justice, College Summit, The Institute for College Access and Success, and the California Business Roundtable, among others. We believe the discourse it has created will continue to build momentum toward focusing our budget priorities on improving student outcomes. We look forward to working closely with all interested and affected leaders to discuss promising ways to support our colleges while promoting student success. We are also encouraged by the Senate Education Committee passage of Senator Liu’s bill SB 1143 – which proposes a new funding model for CCC that is a mix of enrollment and course completion – and will be following that effort closely.
Although AB 2542 did not pass the Assembly Higher Education Committee earlier this year, we remain committed to finding solutions to reform the policies and funding formula for California Community Colleges to ensure the appropriate focus on student success and improving college completion.
These policies represent major steps toward helping the state meet the goal of producing one million additional college graduates by 2025. We are truly grateful for your letters of support, your encouragement, and your willingness to take time away from your busy schedules to accompany us to hearings and legislative meetings. Most of all, we thank you for partnering with us as we continue to put the interest of our students and the future of California first.
Read more about the bills in our Solutions page and in our March Newsletter. Visit our Endorsers page for a list of supporters and our Press Room for media coverage of the bills.
The Campaign's new brochure is now available to download
(April 14, 2010) The Campaign for College Opportunity has updated its informational brochure that summarizes the state of California’s higher education system, highlights the ways the organization is working with a diverse coalition on ways California can ensure that the next generation has the opportunity to go to college and succeed, and explains how you can play an active role in helping us achieve our mission.
Conference call focuses on Latinos and STEM Degrees
(April 6, 2010) Improving completion for Latinos in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields was the focus of a phone briefing held on Tuesday, April 6. The briefing, part of The Campaign's Conversations on College Opportunity and Student Success, was produced in conjunction with the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Southern California to coincide with the release of their report, "Improving Transfer Access to STEM Bachelor's Degrees at Hispanic Serving Institutions through the America COMPETES Act." The CUE report, which has a national focus, looks at transfer equity in states across the country as it applies to Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
In addition to Campaign Executive Director Michele Siqueiros, panelists on the call included Dr. Alicia Dowd, CUE Co-Director and an Associate Professor of Higher Education; Dr. Lindsey E. Malcom, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Riverside; Dr. Mark W. Rocha, President of West Los Angeles College; and Jennifer Cano, Director of Education Programs, Great Minds in STEM.
Click here for more information and to listen to the complete briefing.
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