BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                  AB 2302
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 2302 (Fong)
          As Amended  August 20, 2010
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |75-2 |(June 1, 2010)  |SENATE: |29-0 |(August 25,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2010)          |
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          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):







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             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. 







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          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