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California faces a serious problem. If current trends persist, California will have decreased college-going among our young population, a projected shortage of highly educated workers compared to the needs in the economy, and declining personal income relative to the rest of the country. This is not the future that any of us want.
Fortunately, there are a number of viable solutions to these problems, many underway, others proposed. Here are a number of solutions and policy proposals that The Campaign for College Opportunity supports.
Students are not currently awarded with an Associate Degree at the end of their transfer preparation at a community college. As a result, many transfer students leave the community college system with nothing to show for their work and if they experience interruptions on their path to obtain a bachelor's degree they may find themselves far less marketable in a competitive California economy. SB 1440 will ensure that community college students who fulfill general education transfer requirements are guranteed acceptance to a California State University campus with full junior status and receive an Associate Degree in Transfer.
View the SB 1440 summary
See a list of bill supporters
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.
View AB 2302 summary
See a list of bill supporters
AB 2542 did not pass the Assembly Higher Education Committee earlier this year.
The Campaign for College Opportunity, in consultation with community college leaders, has proposed important legislation—Accelerating Student Success College—designed to maintain access to college while significantly improving student completion. At the heart of this pilot project is a commitment: participating colleges will improve student retention and completion in exchange for flexibility on (not elimination of) a handful of restrictive state codes and regulations that allow them to better serve students in their community.
View the AB 2542 summary.
The Center for the Study of Community Colleges has released an important report called Reforming Transfer and Articulation in California that examines the need for systemic reform of California's transfer and articulation system. The report offers recommendations guided by three basic principles:
The transfer pathway(s) must be transparent and easy for students, faculty, and advisers to understand.
In exchange for successfully completing a defined transfer pathway, students must receive a guarantee that their courses will automatically transfer and be counted toward general education (GE) and major preparation requirements at public four-year institutions in the state.
In developing transfer pathways, care must be taken to strike a balance between curricular standardization and faculty/institutional autonomy.
Read the complete report.
This bill was passed in 2008.
This bill ensures that students and their families, beginning in middle school, understand that if they prepare for college, California will provide them the opportunity to pursue career technical education or a college degree in our community colleges and universities and provide financial assistance for eligible students with need. A bipartisan group of legislators has joined Senator Scott in introducing this bill.
View the SB 890 Fact Sheet.
This bill was passed in 2007.
This bill ensures that California Community College students have the opportunity to apply for financial aid, particularly the federal Pell Grant, the Board of Governors Fee Waiver and the CalGrant.
View the AB 668 Fact Sheet.
The Community College Basic Skills is an important effort to help improve instruction and the delivery of services to the large proportion of community college students who need to master basic math and English to successfully complete career technical, degree and transfer programs in the community colleges. An estimated 70% of students test into pre-college level programs, but only about one third of students enroll in basic skills education. This important Initiative, with funding from the Governor and legislature, and leadership by the Academic Senate and Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges is an important part of the solution.
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