BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



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           CORRECTED  - 06/02/2010 Technical change (Member name)

          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 2302 (Fong)
          As Amended  April 28, 2010
          Majority vote 

           HIGHER EDUCATION    9-0         APPROPRIATIONS      12-5        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Block, Norby, Adams,      |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano,         |
          |     |Chesbro, Fong, Fuller,    |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |Galgiani, Portantino,     |     |Charles Calderon, Coto,   |
          |     |Ruskin                    |     |Davis,                    |
          |     |                          |     |Monning, Ruskin, Skinner, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio,                  |
          |     |                          |     |Torlakson, Torrico        |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller,   |
          |     |                          |     |Nielsen, Norby            |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Requires the California State University (CSU) and the  
          California Community Colleges (CCC), and requests the University  
          of California (UC), to develop a common core curriculum for  
          major preparation, to develop transfer agreements, and to  
          establish transfer degree programs that would guarantee as  
          associate degree and transfer to the UC and CSU systems.   
          Specifically,  this bill :  

          1)Requires UC, CSU, and CCC to develop an intersegmental common  
            core transfer curriculum in major preparation courses that  
            shall be the same for all transfer students, regardless of the  
            public four-year institution or the campus to which the  
            students transfer.

          2)Stipulates that any CCC student successfully completing the  
            existing transfer core curriculum in general education courses  
            and the applicable major preparation courses developed per 1)  
            above is deemed eligible for a transfer degree, commencing  
            with 2012-13 academic calendar.

          3)Requires CSU and requests UC, effective July 1, 2013, to  








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            develop transfer admission agreement programs at each CCC  
            campus for CCC students demonstrating intent to meet academic  
            requirements for transfer, and requires the transfer admission  
            agreement to guarantee admission to the campus and major  
            identified in the agreement and transfer of all units included  
            in the agreement.

          4)Requires the CCC Chancellor, the CSU Chancellor, and the UC  
            President, to jointly develop and implement a transfer degree  
            program, with the transfer degree to be granted by each CCC,  
            commencing with the 2012-13 academic year, to students who  
            complete the common core curriculum in general education and  
            major preparation in his or her major.  

          5)Stipulates that the transfer degree constitutes a recognized  
            educational credential awarded by a CCC, equivalent to  
            satisfactory completion of the requirements of a postsecondary  
            educational program at the associate degree level, and  
            guarantees a transfer student upper-division status at UC or  
            CSU upon enrollment in the major for which the student  
            completes the applicable lower division requirements.

          6)Subject to a competitive application process, CSU is required,  
            and UC is requested, to guarantee admission to their  
            respective segments to each student who earns a transfer  
            degree, but stipulates that this does not limit UC's and CSU's  
            authority to impose post-transfer academic requirements on  
            transfer students. 

          7)Requires the CCC Chancellor, the CSU Chancellor, and the UC  
            President, to report to the Legislature on implementation of  
            all of the above by June 30, 2011.

          8)Sunsets existing law related to UC and CSU articulation  
            agreements, effective July 1, 2013, and repeals other  
            transfer-related requirements in existing law.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee: 

          1)At the system-wide level, each of the three segments would  
            incur costs of several hundred thousand dollars to develop and  
            implement a common core curriculum for major preparation  
            courses and a transfer degree program.








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          2)Individual campuses for the three segments would incur  
            significant costs to develop transfer admission agreements  
            between UC and CSU campuses and CCC campuses.

          3)Potential significant long-term savings to the extent the new  
            transfer mechanism results in students graduating with fewer  
            total credits. 

           COMMENTS  :  While the rate of student transfer has generally  
          increased over the past 15 years, the transfer process is widely  
          regarded as complex, confusing, and inefficient.  A CSU study  
          found that transfer students graduated with an average of 141  
          semester units (120 units is usually needed to graduate). The  
          excess units resulted from course-taking actions at both CSU and  
          CCC.  A separate study found that CCC transfer students earn an  
          average of 75 CCC units.  Numerous entities have called for the  
          streamlining of the transfer process, including the Legislative  
          Analyst's Office and the Institute for Higher Education  
          Leadership and Policy (IHELP). This bill contains many of the  
          recommendations included in IHELP's report entitled, "Crafting a  
          Student-Centered Transfer Process in California: Lessons From  
          Other States" (August 2009).


          CCC students who wish to transfer to a UC or CSU campus  
          typically take a set of general education courses (about 40  
          units), courses related to their major interest (6-8 units), and  
          electives or local degree requirements, which together  
          constitute lower division preparation.  UC, CSU, and CCC are  
          required to maintain a common core curriculum for general  
          education for the purposes of transfer but not for major  
          preparation.  Each major at each UC campus has its own set of  
          major preparation requirements, and while CSU has established  
          common major preparation requirements for high demand majors,  
          CSU can require additional pre-major courses that differ by  
          campus.  This bill would require UC to develop a common core  
          curriculum for major preparation and would disallow CSU from  
          imposing additional pre-major courses that differ by campus.   
          However, this bill would allow UC and CSU to impose additional  
          pre-major requirements after the student has transferred. 

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)  








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          319-3960 
                                                                FN: 0004546