Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to (1) identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer, (2) notify those students of their completion of the degree requirements, (3) automatically award the student with the degree, and (4) add the student to an identification system at the end of each academic year that the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall maintain and that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California. The bill would require that steps (1) to (3), inclusive, be completed at the end of each academic term. The bill would authorize a student to affirmatively exercise an option to not receive an associate degree for transfer or to be included in the identification system.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make its provisions operative during any fiscal year only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs to be incurred by community college districts pursuant to the bills provisions during that year.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to (1) identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer, (2) notify those students of their completion of the degree requirements, (3) automatically award the student with the degree, and (4) add the student to an identification system at the end of each academic year that the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall maintain and that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. California. The bill would require that steps (1) to (3), inclusive, be completed at the end of each academic term. The bill would authorize a student to affirmatively exercise an option to not receive an associate degree for transfer or to be included in the identification system.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make its provisions operative during any fiscal year only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs to be incurred by community college districts pursuant to the bills provisions during that year.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to (1) identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer, (2) notify those students of their completion of the degree requirements, (3) automatically award the student with the degree, and (4) add the student to an identification system maintained by the community college campus in a manner at the end of each academic year that the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall maintain and that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that these steps (1) to (3), inclusive, be completed within 45 days of a students completion of the associate degree for transfer and at the end of each academic term. The bill would authorize a student to affirmatively exercise an option to not receive an associate degree for transfer or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus. system.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make its provisions operative during any fiscal year only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs to be incurred by community college districts pursuant to the bills provisions during that year.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to (1) identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer, (2) notify those students of their completion of the degree requirements, (3) automatically award the student with the degree, and (4) add the student to an identification system maintained by the community college campus in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that these steps be completed within 45 days of a students completion of the associate degree for transfer and would authorize a student to affirmatively exercise an option to not receive an associate degree for transfer or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make its provisions operative during any fiscal year only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs to be incurred by community college districts pursuant to the bills provisions during that year.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to (1) identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer, (2) notify those students of their completion of the degree requirements, (3) automatically award the student with the degree, and (4) add the student to an identification system maintained by the community college campus in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that these steps be completed within 45 days of a students completion of the associate degree of for transfer and would authorize a student to affirmatively exercise an option to not receive an associate degree of for transfer or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to (1) identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that a student who has completed an associate degree for transfer be added to this identification system maintained by a community college campus within 45 days of completion of the degree unless the student affirmatively opts out of being included. transfer, (2) notify those students of their completion of the degree requirements, (3) automatically award the student with the degree, and (4) add the student to an identification system maintained by the community college campus in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that these steps be completed within 45 days of a students completion of the associate degree of transfer and would authorize a student to affirmatively exercise an option to not receive an associate degree of transfer or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments are the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. A provision of the act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make that provision applicable. Existing provisions of the act require the governing bodies of the 3 public postsecondary segments, with appropriate consultation with the academic senates of the respective segments, to develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. Existing law provides that a student that earns an associate degree for transfer from a community college is eligible to transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets specified requirements. Existing law recognizes that the University of California has been working with the California Community Colleges to seek improvements to the transfer process and states the intent of the Legislature that the University of California consider various viable pathways to transfer, including the development of an associate degree for transfer granted by community college districts, as part of this endeavor.

This bill would require the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to identify those students who have completed an associate degree for transfer in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems. The bill would require that a student who has completed an associate degree for transfer be added to this identification system maintained by a community college campus within 45 days of completion of the degree unless the student affirmatively opts out of being included.

By placing additional duties upon a community college district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

 VETO  

Bill No: SB 478

Author:

:

Vote: 7

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 6-1, 3/29/17

AYES: Allen, Wilk, Galgiani, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan

NOES: Vidak

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/25/17

AYES: Lara, Beall, Bradford, Hill, Wiener

NOES: Bates, Nielsen

SENATE FLOOR: 29-10, 5/31/17

AYES: Allen, Atkins, Beall, Cannella, De León, Dodd, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Newman, Nguyen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Stone, Vidak

NO VOTE RECORDED: Bradford

SENATE FLOOR: 30-10, 9/11/17

AYES: Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bradford, Cannella, De León, Dodd, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Newman, Nguyen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Stone, Vidak

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-6, 9/7/17 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), to automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) for purposes of streamlining transfer.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Declares the Legislature’s intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, prioritize California Community College (CCC) transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program, among others. (Education Code § 66202)
2. Requires the Board of Governors of the CCC, the UC Regents, and the Trustees of the CSU, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements. (EC § 66720-66722.5)
3. Requires each department, school, and major of the UC and CSU to establish discipline specific articulation and transfer program agreements for majors with lower division prerequisites and establishes a number of related reporting and other requirements. (EC § 66740, et seq.)
4. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. In addition, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the associate transfer degree process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. It also requires the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway, as specified. (EC § 66745-66749.5)
5. Authorizes any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to request that the UC guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.
6. Requires the Regents of the UC to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, beginning no later than March 2017 and until March 2022 including reporting on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and who were admitted. (EC § 66721.9)

This bill:

1. Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to do all of the following:
   1. Identify students who complete an ADT.
   2. Notify students of their completion of the ADT requirements.
   3. Automatically award the student with the ADT.
   4. Add the student to the identification system described below in 3).
2. Requires officials to complete the steps listed above at the end of each academic term.
3. Requires the CCC Chancellor’s Office to maintain an identification system that can be accessed electronically by the CSU and the UC.
4. Permits a student to affirmatively opt out of receiving an ADT or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.
5. Specifies that the automatic awarding of an ADT and the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system do not apply to a student who opts out of receiving an ADT.
6. Specifies that the requirement to add a student to the identification system also does not apply to a student who opts out of being included in that system.
7. Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall be operative only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs that will be incurred by community college districts.

Comments

1. Need for the bill. In an effort to streamline transfer pathways from community college to the CSU, the Legislature enacted the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2010 established by SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) which required CCC to develop the ADT. The degree guarantees students admission, with junior standing, to a CSU campus. According to the author, despite the simplification efforts of the Legislature, the transfer processes from the CCC to the CSU and the UC remain complex and difficult for students. The author asserts that recent research found systematic problems with the implementation of ADT’s including that most CCC students do not understand the ADT or know they have one, thus they do not take advantage of its benefits.

This bill seeks to simplify the ADT certification process for students who completed the requirements for the degree and transfer to UC or CSU thereby ensuring that students who meet criteria for an ADT receive its benefits.

1. Benefits of an ADT. The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, established by SB 1440 requires CCC districts to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. Completion of an ADT guarantees:
   1. Admission with junior status to a CSU campus to a major determined to be similar to the ADT, but not to a specific campus or major.
   2. No additional lower-division CSU coursework.
   3. No more than 60 semester units of upper division CSU coursework to complete a bachelor’s degree that, in addition to the 60 units completed at community college, results in a 120 unit pathway to a bachelor’s degree.
   4. Priority admission at CSU.

For students transferring to UC, under the comprehensive review policy the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.

1. Related report. The Education Insights Center recently published a report, Trial and Error: California Students Make the Best of an Improving Yet Complex Transfer Process. The report notes that transfer students represented about half of new undergraduate enrollment at the CSU in 2015-16, and half of the bachelor’s degrees conferred by the CSU in 2014-15 were awarded to students who and transferred from a community college. At the UC in 2015-16, about 28 percent of new undergraduates had transferred from community college and community college transfer students were awarded about a third of the UC’s bachelor’s degrees in 2014-15. Despite this representation of community college transfer students at the state’s public universities, only 24 percent of students who enroll intending to transfer actually do so after for four years and only 38 percent transfer after six years. The report also noted the following:
   1. Most students who participated in the study did not understand the ADT.
   2. The students are confused by the offering of both an associate’s degree and ADT in the same discipline.
   3. The students who earned an associate’s degree did not know if the degree they received was an ADT.
   4. Both community colleges and CSUs need to improve counseling and online supports for transfer students.
   5. Community colleges should institute degree audit programs to assist students in transfer planning.
2. How are ADT currently students notified? Generally, CCC students are not notified of completion of ADT requirements nor is the degree automatically awarded. A student must file a petition for an ADT prior to receiving the award. It appears that ADT students seeking admittance to a four-year public university self-identify and submit verification that they have finished requirements for the ADT. According the CCC Chancellor’s Office, colleges are not equipped with the tools such as an automated degree audit system of which would be required to implement the provisions outlined in this bill. A system like the one described in this bill could simplify the process for students and presumably increase the number ADT graduates.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Reimbursable mandate costs of approximately $1.2 million to $2.5 million General Fund. Forty-one out of the 114 CCCs conduct degree audit checks manually or do not use software programs capable of handling either an automatic degree audit check or award ADTs. A system upgrade can cost each CCC between $30,000 and $60,000. CCCs will also have to incur ongoing costs related to annual software maintenance contracts.
2. Approximately $10,000 in costs to the CCC Chancellor’s Office to maintain and update an identification system that can be electronically accessed by CSU and UC.

SUPPORT: (Verified 9/8/17)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/8/17)

None received

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:

I am returning Senate Bill 478 without my signature.

This bill would require each community college to identify all students who have completed the requirements for an associate degree for transfer and automatically award that degree, but only in those years where the state budget appropriates specific funds for this purpose.

I support efforts to increase the number of transfer students to the California State University and the University of California, as well as to other four-year private universities, but funding a sporadic, manual "degree audit" is not the answer.

It would be better for community colleges to update their technology systems and processes in total, so that all students know how close they are to completing their degrees.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-6, 9/7/17

AYES: Acosta, Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Baker, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Caballero, Calderon, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Dababneh, Daly, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Reyes, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wood, Rendon

NOES: Brough, Chávez, Dahle, Gallagher, Harper, Mathis

NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Burke, Choi

Prepared by:

1/2/18 10:09:53

**** END ****

 UNFINISHED BUSINESS  

Bill No: SB 478

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 6-1, 3/29/17

AYES: Allen, Wilk, Galgiani, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan

NOES: Vidak

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/25/17

AYES: Lara, Beall, Bradford, Hill, Wiener

NOES: Bates, Nielsen

SENATE FLOOR: 29-10, 5/31/17

AYES: Allen, Atkins, Beall, Cannella, De León, Dodd, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Newman, Nguyen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Stone, Vidak

NO VOTE RECORDED: Bradford

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-6, 9/7/17 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), to automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) for purposes of streamlining transfer.

Assembly Amendments

modify the length of time for which an ADT student is identified, notified of their degree completion and is awarded the degree from 45-days to at the end of each academic term. The amendments also make technical, non-substantive changes.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Declares the Legislature’s intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, prioritize California Community College (CCC) transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program, among others.(Education Code § 66202)
2. Requires the Board of Governors of the CCC, the UC Regents, and the Trustees of the CSU, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements. (EC § 66720-66722.5)
3. Requires each department, school, and major of the UC and CSU to establish discipline specific articulation and transfer program agreements for majors with lower division prerequisites and establishes a number of related reporting and other requirements. (EC § 66740, et seq.)
4. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. In addition, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the associate transfer degree process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. It also requires the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway, as specified. (EC § 66745-66749.5)
5. Authorizes any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to request that the UC guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.
6. Requires the Regents of the UC to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, beginning no later than March 2017 and until March 2022 including reporting on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and who were admitted. (EC § 66721.9)

This bill:

1. Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to do all of the following:
   1. Identify students who complete an ADT.
   2. Notify students of their completion of the ADT requirements.
   3. Automatically award the student with the ADT.
   4. Add the student to the identification system described below in 3).
2. Requires officials to complete the steps listed above at the end of each academic term.

1. Requires the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to maintain an identification system that can be accessed electronically by the CSU and the UC.
2. Permits a student to affirmatively opt out of receiving an ADT or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.
3. Specifies that the automatic awarding of an ADT and the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system do not apply to a student who opts out of receiving an ADT.
4. Specifies that the requirement to add a student to the identification system also does not apply to a student who opts out of being included in that system.
5. Specifies that the provisions of this measure shall be operative only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs that will be incurred by community college districts.

Comments

1. Need for the bill. In an effort to streamline transfer pathways from community college to the CSU, the Legislature enacted the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2010 established by SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) which required CCC to develop the ADT. The degree guarantees students admission, with junior standing, to a CSU campus. According to the author, despite the simplification efforts of the Legislature, the transfer processes from the CCC to the CSU and the UC remain complex and difficult for students. The author asserts that recent research found systematic problems with the implementation of ADT’s including that most CCC students do not understand the ADT or know they have one, thus they do not take advantage of its benefits.

This bill seeks to simplify the ADT certification process for students who completed the requirements for the degree and transfer to UC or CSU thereby ensuring that students who meet criteria for an ADT receive its benefits.

1. Benefits of an ADT. The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, established by SB 1440 requires CCC districts to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. Completion of an ADT guarantees:
   1. Admission with junior status to a CSU campus to a major determined to be similar to the ADT, but not to a specific campus or major.
   2. No additional lower-division CSU coursework.
   3. No more than 60 semester units of upper division CSU coursework to complete a bachelor’s degree that, in addition to the 60 units completed at community college, results in a 120 unit pathway to a bachelor’s degree.
   4. Priority admission at CSU.

For students transferring to UC, under the comprehensive review policy the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.

1. Related report. The Education Insights Center recently published a report, Trial and Error: California Students Make the Best of an Improving Yet Complex Transfer Process. The report notes that transfer students represented about half of new undergraduate enrollment at the CSU in 2015-16, and half of the bachelor’s degrees conferred by the CSU in 2014-15 were awarded to students who and transferred from a community college. At the UC in 2015-16, about 28 percent of new undergraduates had transferred from community college and community college transfer students were awarded about a third of the UC’s bachelor’s degrees in 2014-15. Despite this representation of community college transfer students at the state’s public universities, only 24 percent of students who enroll intending to transfer actually do so after for four years and only 38 percent transfer after six years. The report also noted the following:
   1. Most students who participated in the study did not understand the ADT.
   2. The students are confused by the offering of both an associate’s degree and ADT in the same discipline.
   3. The students who earned an associate’s degree did not know if the degree they received was an ADT.
   4. Both community colleges and CSUs need to improve counseling and online supports for transfer students.
   5. Community colleges should institute degree audit programs to assist students in transfer planning.
2. How are ADT currently students notified? Generally, CCC students are not notified of completion of ADT requirements nor is the degree automatically awarded. A student must file a petition for an ADT prior to receiving the award. It appears that ADT students seeking admittance to a four year public university self-identify and submit verification that they have finished requirements for the ADT. According the CCC Chancellor’s Office, colleges are not equipped with the tools such as an automated degree audit system of which would be required to implement the provisions outlined in this bill. A system like the one described in this bill could simplify the process for students and presumably increase the number ADT graduates.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Reimbursable mandate costs of approximately $1.2 million to $2.5 million General Fund. Forty-one out of the 114 CCCs conduct degree audit checks manually or do not use software programs capable of handling either an automatic degree audit check or award ADTs. A system upgrade can cost each CCC between $30,000 and $60,000. CCCs will also have to incur ongoing costs related to annual software maintenance contracts.
2. Approximately $10,000 in costs to the CCC Chancellors Office to maintain and update an identification system that can be electronically accessed by CSU and UC.

SUPPORT: (Verified 9/8/17)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/8/17)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-6, 9/7/17

AYES: Acosta, Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Baker, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Caballero, Calderon, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Dababneh, Daly, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Reyes, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wood, Rendon

NOES: Brough, Chávez, Dahle, Gallagher, Harper, Mathis

NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Burke, Choi

Prepared by:

9/8/17 15:13:48

**** END ****

SENATE THIRD READING

STR Bill Id:SB 478

Author:(Portantino)

As Amended Ver:July 13, 2017

Majority vote

SENATE VOTE: 29-10

SUMMARY: Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), to automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) for purposes of streamlining transfer. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to do all of the following:
   1. Identify students who complete an ADT;
   2. Notify students of their completion of the ADT requirements;
   3. Automatically award the student with the ADT; and,
   4. Add the student to the identification system, as described in (5) below, at the end of each academic term.
2. Requires that all of (1)(a – c) inclusive be completed at the end of each academic term.
3. Permits a student to choose not to receive an ADT or to be included in the identification system, as described in (5) below.
4. Specifies that (1)(c and d) above, does not apply to a student who opts out from receiving an ADT and that (1)(d) above does not apply if a student opts out of being included in the identification system, as described in (5) below.
5. Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) to maintain an identification system that can be accessed electronically by the CSU and the UC.
6. Specifies that the provisions of this measure shall be operative only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs that will be incurred by community college districts.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Declares the Legislature's intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, in part, prioritize CCC transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program (Education Code (EC) Section 66202).
2. Requires the CCC Board of Governors, the UC Regents, and the CSU Trustees, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements (EC Sections 66720 - 66722.5).
3. Requires each department, school, and major of the UC and CSU to establish discipline specific articulation and transfer program agreements for majors with lower division prerequisites and establishes a number of related reporting and other requirements (EC Section 66740, et seq.).
4. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. Additionally, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the ADTs process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. And requires the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway, as specified (EC Sections 66745 - 66749.5).
5. Requires the Regents of the UC to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, beginning no later than March 2017 and until March 2022 including reporting on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and who were admitted (EC Section 66721.9).

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Reimbursable mandate costs of approximately $1.2 million to $2.5 million General Fund. Forty-one out of the 114 CCCs conduct degree audit checks manually or do not use software programs capable of handling either an automatic degree audit check or award ADTs. A system upgrade can cost each CCC between $30,000 and $60,000. CCCs will also have to incur ongoing costs related to annual software maintenance contracts.
2. Approximately $10,000 in costs to the CCCCO to maintain and update an identification system that can be electronically accessed by CSU and UC.

COMMENTS: Background. The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, established by SB 1440 (Padilla), Chapter 428, Statues of 2010, in part, required CCC districts to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deemed the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student met specified course requirements. Completion of an ADT guarantees:

1. Admission with junior status to a CSU campus to a major determined to be similar to the ADT, but not to a specific campus or major;
2. No additional lower-division CSU coursework;
3. No more than 60 semester units of upper division CSU coursework to complete a bachelor's degree that, in addition to the 60 units completed at community college, results in a 120 unit pathway to a bachelor's degree; and,
4. Priority admission at CSU.

To note, for students transferring to UC, under the UC's comprehensive review policy, the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.

What does the data say? According to the October 2016 Education Insights Center report, Trial and Error: California Students Make the Best of an Improving Yet Complex Transfer Process, transfer students represented about half of new undergraduate enrollment at the CSU in 2015-16, and half of the bachelor's degrees conferred by the CSU in 2014-15 were awarded to students who and transferred from a community college. The report also found that at the UC in 2015-16, about 28% of new undergraduates had transferred from community college and community college transfer students were awarded about a third of the UC's bachelor's degrees in 2014-15.

However, the report also found that despite this representation of community college transfer students at the state's public universities, only 24% of students who enroll at a CCC intending to transfer to a public university actually do so after four years, and only 38% transfer after six years. Per the students who participated in the study, it is interesting to note the study found, in part:

1. Students did not understand the ADT;
2. Students were (and still appear to be) confused by the offering of both an associate's degree and an ADT in the same discipline; and,
3. Students who earned an associate's degree did not know if the degree they received was an ADT.

Lastly, the report recommended that both community colleges and the CSU need to improve counseling and online support for transfer students and community colleges should institute degree audit programs to assist students in transfer planning.

Purpose of the measure. According to the author, the student transfer processes from a CCC to a CSU or UC, "are complex and confusing for most transfer students." The author contends that it is challenging for the CSU and UC to certify whether or not a CCC transfer student has obtained an ADT.

This measure requires the CCC to automatically award ADTs to students who have completed all necessary requirements to earn an ADT and add them to an identification system that the CSU and UC will be able to access electronically.

Current ADT notification process. Generally, CCC students are not notified of their completion of the ADT requirements nor is the degree automatically awarded. A student must file a petition for an ADT prior to receiving the award. Committee Staff understands that that ADT students seeking admittance to a four year public university self-identify and submit verification that they have finished requirements for the ADT.

According the CCCCO, colleges are not equipped with the tools, such as an automated degree audit system, which would be required to implement the provisions as outlined in this measure. To note, a system like the one described in this bill could simplify the process for students and presumably increase the number of ADT graduates.

Previous legislation. SB 1440 (Padilla), Chapter 428, Statues of 2010, created the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which required community colleges to create two-year 60 unit ADTs that are fully transferable to CSU and specified that once admitted, these students need only complete two additional years (an additional 60 units) of coursework to earn a bachelor's degree.

AB 2302 (Fong), Chapter 427, Statues of 2010, authorized any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by SB 1440 (as referenced above) to request that the UC guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.

SB 440 (Padilla), Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013, in part, expanded the provisions of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to require that CCCs create ADTs in every major, and in areas of emphasis, and to require that the CSU accept these degrees, and develop an admissions redirection process for students who completed these degrees but were denied admission to the CSU campus to which they applied. SB 440 also required the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway.

Analysis Prepared by: Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN: 0001669

Date of Hearing: July 19, 2017

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 478

Author:(Portantino) – As Amended Ver:July 13, 2017

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), to automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) enrollment systems.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Reimbursable mandate costs of approximately $1.2 million to $2.5 million General Fund. Forty-one out of the 114 California Community Colleges (CCC) conduct degree audit checks manually or do not use software programs capable of handling either an automatic degree audit check or award ADTs. A system upgrade can cost each CCC between $30,000 and $60,000. CCC will also have to incur ongoing costs related to annual software maintenance contracts.
   
2. Approximately $10,000 in costs to the CCC Chancellor's Office to maintain and update an identification system that can be electronically accesses by UC and CSU.

COMMENTS:

1. Background. Existing law establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant students an ADT, which deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU. Additionally, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. Students that utilize the ADT process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year.
   
   The Regents of the UC are required to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, and beginning no later than March 2017 they must report on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and are therefore admitted. Under the UC's comprehensive review policy, the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.
2. Purpose. According to the author, the student transfer processes from a CCC to a CSU or UC, "are complex and confusing for most transfer students." The author contends that it is challenging for the CSU and UC to certify whether or not a CCC transfer student has obtained an ADT.
3. Previous legislation. SB 1440 (Padilla), Chapter 428, Statues of 2010, created the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which required community colleges to create two-year 60 unit ADTs that are fully transferable to CSU and specified that once admitted, these students need only complete two additional years (an additional 60 units) of coursework to earn a bachelor's degree.
   
   AB 2302 (Fong), Chapter 427, Statues of 2010, authorized any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by SB 1440 (as referenced above) to request that the UC guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.

SB 440 (Padilla), Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013, in part, expanded the provisions of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to require that CCCs create ADTs in every major, and in areas of emphasis, and to require that the CSU accept these degrees, and develop an admissions redirection process for students who completed these degrees but were denied admission to the CSU campus to which they applied. SB 440 also required the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway.

Analysis Prepared by: Daisy Gonzales / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: July 11, 2017

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Jose Medina, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 478

Author:(Portantino) – As Amended Ver:June 19, 2017

SENATE VOTE: 29-10

SUBJECT: Public postsecondary education: transfer of community college students to the California State University or University of California.

SUMMARY: Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), to automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) enrollment systems for purposes of streamlining transfer. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to do all of the following:
   1. Identify students who complete an ADT;
   2. Notify students of their completion of the ADT requirements;
   3. Automatically award the student with the ADT; and,
   4. Add the student to the identification system, as described in (5) below, at the end of each academic term.
2. Requires that all of (1)(a – c) inclusive be completed at the end of each academic term.
3. Permits a student to choose not to receive an ADT or to be included in the identification system, as described in (5) below.
4. Specifies that (1)(c and d) above, does not apply to a student who opts out from receiving an ADT and that (1)(d) above does not apply if a student opts out of being included in the identification system, as described in (5) below.
5. Requires the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to maintain an identification system that can be accessed electronically by the CSU and the UC enrollment systems.
6. Specifies that the provisions of this measure shall be operative only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs that will be incurred by community college districts.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Declares the Legislature’s intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, in part, prioritize California Community College (CCC) transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program (Education Code (EC) Section 66202).
2. Requires the CCC Board of Governors, the UC Regents, and the CSU Trustees, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements (EC Sections 66720 - 66722.5).
3. Requires each department, school, and major of the UC and CSU to establish discipline specific articulation and transfer program agreements for majors with lower division prerequisites and establishes a number of related reporting and other requirements (EC Section 66740, et seq.).
4. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. Additionally, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the ADTs process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. And requires the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway, as specified (EC Sections 66745 - 66749.5).
5. Requires the Regents of the UC to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, beginning no later than March 2017 and until March 2022 including reporting on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and who were admitted (EC Section 66721.9).

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO), based on the most recent version of this bill:

1. Local costs ranging from $1.2 million to $2.5 million. Approximately 41 of the 114 community colleges conduct degree audit checks manually or do not use software programs capable of handling both an automatic degree audit check and automatic awarding of ADTs.

The estimated cost of an automated system capable of implementing the provisions of SB 478 range from between $30,000 and $60,000.

The total local costs range amounts are derived by multiplying 41 community colleges total costs for initial implementation.

To note, the cost estimate does not include ongoing campus costs related to annual software maintenance contracts.

1. State operations costs of $10,000 in order to make the necessary changes to the CCCCO's current system in order to implement the provisions of this measure.

COMMENTS: Background. The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, established by SB 1440 (Padilla), Chapter 428, Statues of 2010, in part, required CCC districts to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deemed the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student met specified course requirements. Completion of an ADT guarantees:

1. Admission with junior status to a CSU campus to a major determined to be similar to the ADT, but not to a specific campus or major;
2. No additional lower-division CSU coursework;
3. No more than 60 semester units of upper division CSU coursework to complete a bachelor’s degree that, in addition to the 60 units completed at community college, results in a 120 unit pathway to a bachelor’s degree; and,
4. Priority admission at CSU.

To note, for students transferring to UC, under the UC's comprehensive review policy, the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.

What does the data say? According to the October 2016 Education Insights Center report, Trial and Error: California Students Make the Best of an Improving Yet Complex Transfer Process, transfer students represented about half of new undergraduate enrollment at the CSU in 2015-16, and half of the bachelor’s degrees conferred by the CSU in 2014-15 were awarded to students who and transferred from a community college. The report also found that at the UC in 2015-16, about 28 percent of new undergraduates had transferred from community college and community college transfer students were awarded about a third of the UC’s bachelor’s degrees in 2014-15.

However, the report also found that despite this representation of community college transfer students at the state’s public universities, only 24 percent of students who enroll at a CCC intending to transfer to a public university actually do so after four years, and only 38 percent transfer after six years. Per the students who participated in the study, it is interesting to note the study found, in part:

1. Students did not understand the ADT;
2. Students were (and still appear to be) confused by the offering of both an associate’s degree and an ADT in the same discipline; and,
3. Students who earned an associate’s degree did not know if the degree they received was an ADT.

Lastly, the report recommended that both community colleges and the CSU need to improve counseling and online support for transfer students and community colleges should institute degree audit programs to assist students in transfer planning.

Purpose of the measure. According to the author, the student transfer processes from a CCC to a CSU or UC, "are complex and confusing for most transfer students." The author contends that it is challenging for the CSU and UC to certify whether or not a CCC transfer student has obtained an ADT.

This measure requires the CCC to automatically award ADTs to students who have completed all necessary requirements to earn an ADT and add them to an identification system that the CSU and UC will be able to access electronically.

Current ADT notification process. Generally, CCC students are not notified of their completion of the ADT requirements nor is the degree automatically awarded. A student must file a petition for an ADT prior to receiving the award. Committee Staff understands that that ADT students seeking admittance to a four year public university self-identify and submit verification that they have finished requirements for the ADT.

According the CCCCO, colleges are not equipped with the tools, such as an automated degree audit system, which would be required to implement the provisions as outlined in this measure. To note, a system like the one described in this bill could simplify the process for students and presumably increase the number of ADT graduates.

Committee comments and amendments. As currently drafted, this measure requires the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to maintain an identification system that can be accessed electronically by the UC and CSU enrollment systems. It is presently unclear as to what the term "enrollment systems" means or even entails. Committee Staff understands that said term is seen as vague and confusing to the UC and CSU. Additionally, there is an old reference to the CCCCO

With that in mind, Committee Staff recommends, and the author has agreed to accept the following amendments:

(d) The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office shall maintain an identification system that can be accessed electronically by the California State University and the University of California enrollment systems.

Previous legislation. SB 1440 (Padilla), Chapter 428, Statues of 2010, created the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which required community colleges to create two-year 60 unit ADTs that are fully transferable to CSU and specified that once admitted, these students need only complete two additional years (an additional 60 units) of coursework to earn a bachelor's degree.

AB 2302 (Fong), Chapter 427, Statues of 2010, authorized any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by SB 1440 (as referenced above) to request that the UC guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.

SB 440 (Padilla), Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013, in part, expanded the provisions of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to require that CCCs create ADTs in every major, and in areas of emphasis, and to require that the CSU accept these degrees, and develop an admissions redirection process for students who completed these degrees but were denied admission to the CSU campus to which they applied. SB 440 also required the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

California State Student Association

Campaign for College Opportunity

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 478

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 6-1, 3/29/17

AYES: Allen, Wilk, Galgiani, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan

NOES: Vidak

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/25/17

AYES: Lara, Beall, Bradford, Hill, Wiener

NOES: Bates, Nielsen

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) enrollment systems for purposes of streamlining transfer.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Declares the Legislature’s intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, prioritize California Community College (CCC) transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program, among others.(Education Code § 66202)
2. Requires the Board of Governors of the CCC, the UC Regents, and the Trustees of the CSU, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements. (EC § 66720-66722.5)
3. Requires each department, school, and major of the UC and CSU to establish discipline specific articulation and transfer program agreements for majors with lower division prerequisites and establishes a number of related reporting and other requirements. (EC § 66740, et seq.)
4. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. In addition, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the associate transfer degree process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. It also requires the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway, as specified. (EC § 66745-66749.5)
5. Authorizes any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to request that the UC guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.
6. Requires the Regents of the UC to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, beginning no later than March 2017 and until March 2022 including reporting on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and who were admitted. (EC § 66721.9)

This bill:

1. Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to do all of the following:
   1. Identify students who complete an ADT.
   2. Notify students of their completion of the ADT requirements.
   3. Automatically award the student with the ADT.
   4. Add the student to an identification system maintained by the community college campus in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the CSU and the UC enrollment systems.
2. Requires officials to complete the steps listed above within 45 days of the student completing the ADT requirements.
3. Authorizes a student to affirmatively opt out of receiving an ADT or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.
4. Specifies that the automatic awarding of an ADT and the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system do not apply to a student who opts out of receiving an ADT.
5. Specifies that the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system also does not apply to a student who opts out of being included in that system.
6. Provides that this bill’s provisions are only be operative if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs to be incurred by community college districts.

Comments

1. Need for the bill. In an effort to streamline transfer pathways from community college to the CSU, the Legislature enacted the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2010 established by SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) which required CCC to develop the ADT. The degree guarantees students admission, with junior standing, to a CSU campus. According to the author, despite the simplification efforts of the Legislature, the transfer processes from the CCC to the CSU and the UC remain complex and difficult for students. The author asserts that recent research found systematic problems with the implementation of ADT’s including that most CCC students do not understand the ADT or know they have one, thus they do not take advantage of its benefits.

This bill seeks to simplify the ADT certification process for students who completed the requirements for the degree and transfer to UC or CSU thereby ensuring that students who meet criteria for an ADT receive its benefits.

1. Benefits of an ADT. The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, established by SB 1440 requires CCC districts to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. Completion of an ADT guarantees:
   1. Admission with junior status to a CSU campus to a major determined to be similar to the ADT, but not to a specific campus or major.
   2. No additional lower-division CSU coursework.
   3. No more than 60 semester units of upper division CSU coursework to complete a bachelor’s degree that, in addition to the 60 units completed at community college, results in a 120 unit pathway to a bachelor’s degree.
   4. Priority admission at CSU.

For students transferring to UC, under the comprehensive review policy the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.

1. Related report. The Education Insights Center recently published a report, Trial and Error: California Students Make the Best of an Improving Yet Complex Transfer Process. The report notes that transfer students represented about half of new undergraduate enrollment at the CSU in 2015-16, and half of the bachelor’s degrees conferred by the CSU in 2014-15 were awarded to students who and transferred from a community college. At the UC in 2015-16, about 28 percent of new undergraduates had transferred from community college and community college transfer students were awarded about a third of the UC’s bachelor’s degrees in 2014-15. Despite this representation of community college transfer students at the state’s public universities, only 24 percent of students who enroll intending to transfer actually do so after for four years and only 38 percent transfer after six years. The report also noted the following:
   1. Most students who participated in the study did not understand the ADT.
   2. The students are confused by the offering of both an associate’s degree and ADT in the same discipline.
   3. The students who earned an associate’s degree did not know if the degree they received was an ADT.
   4. Both community colleges and CSUs need to improve counseling and online supports for transfer students.
   5. Community colleges should institute degree audit programs to assist students in transfer planning.
2. How are ADT students notified? Generally, CCC students are not notified that they have completed ADT requirements nor is the degree automatically awarded. A student must file a petition for an ADT prior to receiving the award. It appears that ADT students seeking admittance to a four year public university self-identify and submit verification that they have finished requirements for the ADT. According the CCC Chancellor’s Office, colleges are not equipped with the tools such as an automated degree audit system of which would be required to implement the provisions outlined in this bill. A system like the one described in this bill could simplify the process for students and presumably increase the number ADT graduates.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressure of approximately $67.8 million for community college districts to comply with this bill’s requirements as follows:

• $11.3 million one-time ($100,000 per campus) for software development.
• $11.3 million ongoing ($100,000 per campus) for infrastructure.
• $45.2 million in ongoing for personnel, assuming a minimum of four full-time counselors per campus.

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/26/17)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/26/17)

None received

Prepared by:

5/27/17 18:17:15

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

SB 478 (Portantino) - Public postsecondary education: transfer of community college students to the California State University or University of California

*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********

The following information is revised to reflect amendments

adopted by the committee on May 25, 2017

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify students who have complete all requirements for an associate degree for transfer (ADT), and automatically award these students with the degree. The bill also requires each community college district to add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) enrollment systems for purposes of streamlining transfer. The bill provides that these provisions must be completed within 45 days of the student completing the ADT requirements.

Fiscal Impact:

Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressure of approximately $67.8 million for community college districts to comply with the bill’s requirements as follows:

• $11.3 million one-time ($100,000 per campus) for software development.
• $11.3 million ongoing ($100,000 per campus) for infrastructure.
• $45.2 million in ongoing for personnel, assuming a minimum of four full-time counselors per campus.

Author Amendments:

Provide that the bill’s provisions shall only be operative if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds to pay for all state-mandated costs to be incurred by community college districts.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

SB 478 (Portantino) - Public postsecondary education: transfer of community college students to the California State University or University of California

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify students who have complete all requirements for an associate degree for transfer (ADT), and automatically award these students with the degree. The bill also requires each community college district to add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) enrollment systems for purposes of streamlining transfer. The bill provides that these provisions must be completed within 45 days of the student completing the ADT requirements.

Fiscal Impact:

The Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges (CCCs) indicates a total of $67.8 million for community college districts comply with the bill’s requirements. These costs would be reimbursable by the state (Proposition 98), and are as follows:

• $11.3 million one-time ($100,000 per campus) for software development.
• $11.3 million ongoing ($100,000 per campus) for infrastructure.
• $45.2 million in ongoing for personnel, assuming a minimum of four full-time counselors per campus.

The CSU indicates a cost of at least $100,000 (General Fund) to design, code, test, implement and roll-out this information to the Chancellor’s Office and CSU campuses. Staff notes that there may be similar costs for UC.

Background:

Existing law:

1. Declares the Legislature’s intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, prioritize CCC transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program, among others.(Education Code § 66202)
2. Requires the Board of Governors of the CCCs, the UC Regents, and the Trustees of the CSU, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements. (EC § 66720-66722.5)
3. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which community college districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. In addition, the California State University (CSU) is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the associate transfer degree process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. It also requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathway, as specified. (EC § 66745-66749.5)
4. Authorizes any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to request that the University of California (UC) guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.

Proposed Law:

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to identify students who have completed an ADT; notify students of their completion of the ADT requirements; automatically award the student with the ADT; and add the student to an identification system maintained by the community college campus in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the CSU and the UC enrollment systems. The bill also requires these steps to be completed within 45 days of the student completing the ADT requirements.

This bill authorizes a student to affirmatively opt out of receiving an ADT or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus. It also specifies that the automatic awarding of an ADT and the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system do not apply to a student who opts out of receiving an ADT. Further, the bill specifies that the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system also does not apply to a student who opts out of being included in that system.

Related Legislation:

SB 1425 (Block, 2014) would have required the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop or identify a commercially available utility to conduct system-wide automatic degree audits and for all community colleges to retroactively award degrees.

SB 440 (Padilla, Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013) expanded the provisions of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to require that CCCs create ADTs in every major, and in areas of emphasis, and to require that the CSU accept these degrees, and develop an admissions redirection process for students who completed these degrees but are denied admission to the CSU campus to which they have applied.

SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) created the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which requires community colleges to create two-year 60 unit Associate Degree for Transfers (ADTs) that are fully transferable to the California State University (CSU). Once admitted, these students need only complete two additional years (an additional 60 units) of coursework to earn a bachelor's degree.

Staff Comments: The Chancellor’s office has indicated that

in order to create an automated system, the community colleges would need to create an infrastructure that currently does not exist.  Currently, schools use Ellucian, Banner, or Degree Worx for local degree audits and the auditing for an ADT involves a request from the student. An automated system would need the capability to poll multiple colleges in order to collect a student’s complete unit information.  The units would be checked either against the student’s stated plan or against transfer plans for CSU or University of California transfer.  Even with an automated system, a person would need to vet the results and a counselor’s time at the student’s home school would be needed to limit errors.

A system that could perform these tasks would require software development, infrastructure (data warehousing and security, and ongoing personnel for vetting results. The Chancellor’s office indicates the approximate numbers to accommodate this type of an automated system for 113 colleges would be:

• $11.3 million or $100,000 per campus in one-time costs (Proposition 98 General Fund) for software development.
• $11.3 million or $100,000 per campus in ongoing costs (Proposition 98 General Fund) for infrastructure.
• $45.2 million in ongoing costs (Proposition 98 General Fund) for personnel, assuming a minimum of four full-time counselors per campus.

The CSU indicates a cost of at least $100,000 (General Fund) to design, code, test, implement and roll-out this information to the Chancellor’s Office and CSU campuses. This estimate is based on projected startup costs to design and implement a system, as well as an assumption of one half-time employee to maintain the system, make changes and updates as needed, and provide technical support. Since this bill asks each community college district to create this identification system and does not require that it be in any standard format, the 78 districts may have different ways they could implement this system. Under this scenario, CSU would have to consume data in many different forms, and would require significantly more work on the front end to test, validate, and integrate each district’s system, and would likely require a full-time employee instead of a half-time one.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Benjamin Allen, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: SB 478 Hearing Date: March 29, 2017

Subject: Public postsecondary education: transfer of community college students to the California State University or University of California

SUMMARY

This bill requires the governing board of each community college district to direct community colleges to identify and notify students who complete an associate degree for transfer (ADT), automatically award these students with the degree and add the students to an identification system that is maintained by community colleges in a manner that is accessible to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) enrollment systems for purposes of streamlining transfer.

BACKGROUND

Existing law:

1. Declares the Legislature’s intent that the CSU and the UC, for purposes of enrollment planning and admission priority practice at the undergraduate level, prioritize California Community College (CCC) transfer students in an approved transfer agreement program, among others.(Education Code § 66202)
2. Requires the Board of Governors of the CCC, the UC Regents, and the Trustees of the CSU, in consultation with their respective Academic Senates, to jointly develop, maintain and disseminate a common core curriculum in general education course for the purposes of transfer, and establishes a variety of related requirements. (EC § 66720-66722.5)
3. Requires each department, school, and major of the UC and CSU to establish discipline specific articulation and transfer program agreements for majors with lower division prerequisites and establishes a number of related reporting and other requirements. (EC § 66740, et seq.)
4. Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act under which CCC districts are required to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. In addition, the CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets specified requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses. However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority admission to his or her local CSU campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the California State University (CSU) campus to which the student is admitted. Students that utilize the associate transfer degree process are required to receive priority over all other community college transfer students, except for community college students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the fall term of the 2012-13 academic year. It also requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathway, as specified. (EC § 66745-66749.5)
5. Authorized any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to request that the University of California (UC) guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.
6. Requires the Regents of the UC to annually report on CCC transfer students admitted to the UC, beginning no later than March 2017 and until March 2022 including reporting on students who indicate on their admission application that they received an ADT and who were admitted. (EC § 66721.9)

ANALYSIS

This bill:

1. Requires the governing board of each community college district to direct the appropriate officials at their respective campuses to do all of the following:
   1. Identify students who complete an associate degree for transfer.
   2. Notify students of their completion of the associate degree for transfer

requirements.

• 1. Automatically award the student with the associate degree for transfer.
  2. Add the student to an identification system maintained by the community

college campus in a manner that can be accessed electronically by the

California State University and the University of California enrollment

systems.

1. Requires officials to complete the steps listed above within 45 days of the student completing the associate degree for transfer requirements.

1. Authorizes a student to affirmatively opt out of receiving an associate degree for transfer or to be included in the accessible identification system maintained by the community college campus.
2. Specifies that the automatic awarding of an associate degree for transfer and the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system do not apply to a student who opts out of receiving an associate degree for transfer.
3. Specifies that the requirement to add a student to the accessible identification system also does not apply to a student who opts out of being included in that system.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. In an effort to streamline transfer pathways from community college to the California State University (CSU), the legislature enacted the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2010 established by SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) which required California Community Colleges (CCC) to develop the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT). The degree guarantees students admission, with junior standing, to a CSU campus. According to the author, despite the simplification efforts of the legislature, the transfer processes from the CCC to the CSU and the University of California (UC) remain complex and difficult for students. The author asserts that recent research found systematic problems with the implementation of ADT’s including that most CCC students do not understand the ADT or know they have one, thus they do not take advantage of its benefits.

This bill seeks to simplify the ADT certification process for students who completed the requirements for the degree and transfer to UC or CSU thereby ensuring that students who meet criteria for an ADT receive its benefits.

1. Benefits of an ADT. The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, established by SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) requires CCC districts to develop and grant a transfer associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the CSU, when the student meets specified course requirements. Completion of an ADT guarantees:
   1. Admission with junior status to a CSU campus to a major determined to be similar to the ADT, but not to a specific campus or major.
   2. No additional lower-division CSU coursework.
   3. No more than 60 semester units of upper division CSU coursework to complete a bachelor’s degree that, in addition to the 60 units completed at community college, results in a 120 unit pathway to a bachelor’s degree.
   4. Priority admission at CSU.

For students transferring to UC, under the comprehensive review policy the ADT is among one of the nine criteria campuses are able to use to select their admitted class when they receive more minimally qualified applicants than they can admit.

1. Related report. The Education Insights Center recently published a report, Trial and Error: California Students Make the Best of an Improving Yet Complex Transfer Process. The report notes that transfer students represented about half of new undergraduate enrollment at the California State University (CSU) in 2015-16, and half of the bachelor’s degrees conferred by the CSU in 2014-15 were awarded to students who and transferred from a community college. At the University of California (UC) in 2015-16, about 28 percent of new undergraduates had transferred from community college and community college transfer students were awarded about a third of the UC’s bachelor’s degrees in 2014-15. Despite this representation of community college transfer students at the state’s public universities, only 24 percent of students who enroll intending to transfer actually do so after for four years and only 38 percent transfer after six years. The report also noted the following:
   1. Most students who participated in the study did not understand the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT).
   2. The students are confused by the offering of both an associate’s degree and ADT in the same discipline.
   3. The students who earned an associate’s degree did not know if the degree they received was an ADT.
   4. Both community colleges and CSUs need to improve counseling and online supports for transfer students.
   5. Community colleges should institute degree audit programs to assist students in transfer planning.
2. How are ADT students notified? Generally, California Community College (CCC) students are not notified of their completion of the ADT requirements nor is the degree automatically awarded. A student must file a petition for an ADT prior to receiving the award. It appears that ADT students seeking admittance to a four year public university self-identify and submit verification that they have finished requirements for the ADT. According the Community College Chancellor’s Office, colleges are not equipped with the tools such as an automated degree audit system of which would be required to implement the provisions outlined in this bill. A system like the one described in this bill could simplify the process for students and presumably increase the number ADT graduates.
3. Technical amendment. As drafted this bill makes references an ADT as “associate degree of transfer” rather than “associate degree for transfer,” staff recommends a technical amendment to fix the drafting error to be consistent with current law and read “associate degree for transfer,” throughout the bill.
4. Prior and related legislation.

SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statues of 2010) creates the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which requires community colleges to create two-year 60 unit Associate Degree for Transfers (ADTs) that are fully transferable to California State University (CSU). Once admitted, these students need only complete two additional years (an additional 60 units) of coursework to earn a bachelor's degree.

AB 2302 (Fong, Chapter 427, Statues of 2010) authorized any community college student who met all the requirements for transfer established by

SB 1440 to request that the University of California (UC) guarantee admission with junior status and to request the granting of priority admission to a program or major similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis.

SB 440 (Padilla, Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013) expanded the provisions of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act to require that CCCs create Associate Degree for Transfer (ADTs) in every major, and in areas of emphasis, and to require that the CSU accept these degrees, and develop an admissions redirection process for students who completed these degrees but are denied admission to the CSU campus to which they have applied. It also required the CCC and the CSU to establish a student-centered communication and marketing strategy to increase the visibility of the ADT pathway, as specified.

SUPPORT

None received.

OPPOSITION

None received.

-- END --