BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1440
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1440 (Padilla)
As Amended August 17, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :35-0
HIGHER EDUCATION 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Block, Norby, Adams, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, |
| |Chesbro, Fong, Fuller, | |Bradford, |
| |Galgiani, Portantino, | |Huffman, Coto, Davis, De |
| |Ruskin | |Leon, Gatto, Hall, |
| | | |Harkey, Miller, Nielsen, |
| | | |Norby, Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform
Act (Act). Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Act and requires, commencing with the fall
term of the 2011-12 academic year, as a condition of receipt
of state apportionment funds unless all California Community
College (CCC) districts submit a mandate reimbursement waiver
by December 31, 2010, a CCC district to develop and grant an
associate degree for transfer that deems the student eligible
for transfer into a California State University (CSU)
baccalaureate program when the student:
a) Completes 60 semester or 90 quarter units that are
eligible for transfer to CSU that include the
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC) or CSU General Education-Breadth Requirements
(GE-Breadth) and a minimum of 18 semester or 27 quarter
units in a major or area of emphasis, as determined by the
CCC district; and,
b) Obtains a minimum grade point average of 2.0.
2)Prohibits a CCC district or campus from imposing any
additional requirements for a student to be eligible for the
associate degree for transfer and subsequent admission to CSU
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as outlined in this bill.
3)Encourages CCC districts to consider the local articulation
agreements and other work between respective faculties in
development of the associate degree for transfer and to
facilitate the acceptance of units earned at other CCC
districts toward the associate degree for transfer.
4)Provides that this bill does not preclude students who assess
at below collegiate levels from acquiring remedial
noncollegiate level coursework in preparing for obtaining the
transfer degree, but that remedial coursework shall not be
counted toward transferable units.
5)Requires CSU to guarantee admission with junior status to any
CCC student who obtains a transfer degree, but provides that
students are not guaranteed admission for specific majors or
campuses. Provides that CSU shall grant a student priority
admission to their local CSU campus and to a program or major
that is similar to his or her CCC major.
6)Provides that a student admitted under the transfer degree
program shall receive priority over all other community
college transfer students, excluding community college
students who have entered into a transfer agreement between a
community college and the California State University prior to
the fall term of the 2011-12 academic year.
7)Provides that CSU may require transfer degree students to take
additional courses so long as the student is not required to
take any more than an additional 60 semester or 90 quarter
units at CSU for majors requiring 120 semester units or 180
quarter units. Exempts high unit majors from this provision,
upon agreement by the Chancellors of CSU and CCC and their
respective academic senates. Prohibits CSU from requiring
transfer degree students to repeat courses comparable to those
taken at CCC that counted toward the transfer degree.
8)Prohibits CCCC transfer units from being applicable to CSU
upper division requirements unless agreed upon by the local
Academic Senates of the CSU and UC and the transferred units
do not exceed the required 60 semester units or 90 quarter
units required under this bill.
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9)Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) to review and
report to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, the
Senate Committee on Education, and the respective education
finance budget subcommittees of the Assembly and the Senate
during the spring 2012 budget committee hearings on the
implementation of this bill and, within four years of
implementation, on outcomes in transfer rates, time to degree,
completion rates, and other relevant indicators of student
success, as well as any recommendations for statutory changes
necessary to achieve a clear and transparent transfer process.
10)Provides legislative intent that the requirements placed on
CCC districts pursuant to this bill shall be carried out in
the normal course of program development and approval, course
scheduling, and degree issuance and shall not represent any
new activities or a higher level of service on the part of CCC
districts.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, assuming all CCC districts submit a mandate
reimbursement waiver, the state will incur no costs from
implementation of this bill. To the extent this bill leads to
transfer students, on average, taking fewer units at CSU and the
community colleges in completing their degree requirements,
savings to each segment would be in the tens of millions of
dollars annually. This represents monies that would be "freed
up" to provide access to other CSU/CCC students. Over time, the
bill is also likely to provide administrative savings by
streamlining the articulation of CCC students to CSU.
COMMENTS : Background: 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.
Numerous entities have called for the streamlining of the
transfer process, including the LAO and the Institute for Higher
Education Leadership and Policy (IHELP). IHELP reports that 73%
of California undergraduates attend CCC; however, of the
1999-2000 student cohort who identified a degree as their goal,
only 25% transferred to a four-year institution within six
years. At the same time, recent studies indicate that
California must increase the number of residents with advanced
degrees in order to sustain its economic competitiveness. In
2006-07, CCC transferred nearly 99,000 students to four-year
institutions: 54,391 to CSU, 14,000 to UC, 18,752 to California
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private institutions, and 11,825 to out-of-state institutions.
Purpose of this bill: According to the author, existing law
does not require alignment between CCC and CSU, required
coursework for transfer can vary widely from campus to campus,
and students can become confused, frustrated, and discouraged.
This bill aims to increase the number of students who
successfully transfer from CCC districts to CSU by streamlining
the transfer process. Specifically, this bill requires CCC
districts to establish associate degrees for transfer,
guarantees associate degree for transfer students are admitted
to CSU with junior status, and establishes course unit limits on
most majors in order to reduce unnecessary, excess coursework.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0005955