BILL ANALYSIS AB 2302 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2302 (Fong) As Amended August 20, 2010 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |75-2 |(June 1, 2010) |SENATE: |29-0 |(August 25, | | | | | | |2010) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED. SUMMARY : Changes current law regarding transfer admissions to support the transfer pathway proposed by SB 1440 (Padilla), which is pending on the Assembly Floor, as follows: 1)Requires the California State University (CSU) to do the following for any California Community College (CCC) student who meets all the requirements for transfer established by SB 1440, notwithstanding existing laws relating to admission and categories of admission priority: a) Guarantee admission with junior status, and, b) Grant priority consideration for admission to the CSU campus that serves the local service area in which the student resides. 2)Requires CSU and CCC Chancellor's Office of (CCCCO) to work together to establish the most effective methods to inform students, college advisors, and the general public about the associate degree for transfer and specific details that help students navigate this transfer pathway, including, but not be limited to, Internet notification. 3)Requires the final methods determined by CSU and CCCCO to be completed prior to the beginning of the fall term of the 2011-12 academic year and included as part of the report required subdivision (a) of Section 66749 of the Education Code that is established in SB 1440. 4)Operative August 1, 2011 and commencing with the fall term of the 2011-12 academic year, for any CCC student who meets all the requirements for transfer established by SB 1440 (Padilla), requests that the University of California (UC): AB 2302 Page 2 a) Continue its examination of articulation of lower division major prerequisites in high demand transfer majors with a goal of working in collaboration with CCC to design CCC transfer degrees that provide students adequate preparation for entry into a major; b) Consider offering guaranteed eligibility for admission into a UC campus that accepts a designated CCC transfer degree for admission into a designated UC major; c) Implement pathways to qualify CCC transfer courses for a designated UC major by designating a series of CCC courses that provide sufficient lower division preparation for a designated UC major and that will be accepted by UC; and, d) Provide an interim progress report to the Legislature by June 30, 2011 and a final report by December 31, 2011, with specific findings regarding UC's implementation of the specified transfer pathways. 5)Allows a CCC district, in developing an associate degree for transfer, to consider all the local articulation agreements and other work between the respective faculties from the affected community college and CSU campus to clarify pathways for students. 6)Consistent with existing law requiring CCC to develop common course numbering, requires CCCCO to establish a process to facilitate the acceptance of credits at other community colleges toward the associate degree for transfer established pursuant to SB 1440. The Senate amendments removed most of the language approved by the Assembly, some of which is also contained in SB 1440. Specifically, SB 1440 establishes a new transfer pathway between CSU and CCC, commencing with the fall term of the 2011-12 academic year. This bill was amended to make several changes to current law to support the pathway proposed by SB 1440, including: 1)Clarifies that students who pursue the transfer pathway established by SB 1440 will be granted admission priority over all other students. 2)Request the UC to participate in the new transfer pathway. AB 2302 Page 3 3)Ensures that students are notified of this option for transfer. EXISTING LAW : 1)Specifies that the transfer function be a central institutional priority of all segments of higher education in California and that the segments develop policy and practices to support this priority. 2)Requires that the segments of higher education develop transfer agreements that specify the requirements a CCC student must meet to transfer to the public four-year segments of higher education. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required CSU and CCC, and requested UC, to develop a common core curriculum for major preparation, to develop transfer agreements, and to establish transfer degree programs that would guarantee an associate degree and transfer to the UC and CSU systems. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown cost exposure, potentially offset by system efficiencies. 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. Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN: 0006661