BILL NUMBER: SB 440 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 24, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Sections 66746 and 66747 of, and to add Section
66748.5 to, the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary
education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 440, as amended, Padilla. Public postsecondary education:
Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges and
the California State University as 2 of the segments of public
postsecondary education in this state. Existing law, the Student
Transfer Achievement Reform Act, encourages community colleges to
facilitate the acceptance of credits earned at other community
colleges toward the associate degree for transfer. The act also
requires the California State University to guarantee admission with
junior status to a community college student who meets the
requirements for the associate degree for transfer. A student
admitted to the California State University pursuant to the act is
entitled to 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 2012-13
academic year.
This bill would express findings and declarations of the
Legislature relating to timely progression from lower division
coursework to degree completion. The bill would require community
colleges to create an associate degree for transfer in every major
offered by that college that has an approved transfer model
curriculum before the commencement of the 2014-15 academic year, and
to create an associate degree for transfer in specified areas of
emphasis before the commencement of the 2016-17 academic year,
thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require California State University campuses to
accept transfer model curriculum-aligned associate degrees for
transfer in each of the California State University degree options,
as defined, within a major field, and accept transfer model
curriculum-aligned associate degrees for transfer in each of the
specified areas of emphasis referenced above. The bill would require
the California State University to develop an admissions redirection
process for students admitted pursuant to the Student Transfer
Achievement Reform Act who apply for admission to the California
State University, but are not accepted into the campuses specifically
applied to.
The bill would require the California Community Colleges and the
California State University, in consultation with specified parties,
to develop a student-centered communication and marketing strategy in
order to increase the visibility of the associate degree for
transfer pathway for all students in California. To the extent that
this provision would create new duties for community college
districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(2) 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 these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Since the enactment of the 1960 Master Plan for Higher
Education, preparing students to transfer to a four-year university
has been a core function of the California Community Colleges.
(b) Successful and timely progression from lower division
coursework to degree completion is a basic principle of California
higher education and is critical to the future of the state's
economy.
(c) The Public Policy Institute of California projects that
California's workforce will have one million fewer graduates than it
needs in 2025, and that increasing transfer rates from community
colleges to four-year postsecondary educational institutions could
dramatically reduce the education skills gap.
(d) Today, one in every four jobs requires an associate degree or
higher. In the near future, one in every three jobs will require an
associate degree or higher.
(e) The size of the California Community Colleges and the
California State University systems, which have the largest share of
postsecondary students in the nation, allow the state to address the
serious projected shortage of educated workers.
(f) To meet workforce demands in a cost-effective way, it is
critical that we significantly increase the number of students
obtaining an associate degree while preparing for transfer to a
four-year college or university.
(g) Although the community college and state university segments
have undertaken tremendous efforts to institute the new transfer
pathway, current implementation efforts of Sections 66746 and 66747
of the Education Code alone are insufficient to ensure that the
associate degree for transfer becomes the preferred transfer pathway
for all students across the state.
SEC. 2. Section 66746 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66746. (a) Commencing with the fall term of the 2011-12 academic
year, a student who earns an associate degree for transfer granted
pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be deemed eligible for transfer
into a California State University baccalaureate program when the
student meets both of the following requirements:
(1) Completion of 60 semester units or 90 quarter units that are
eligible for transfer to the California State University, including
both of the following:
(A) The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC) or the California State University General Education-Breadth
Requirements.
(B) A minimum of 18 semester units or 27 quarter units in a major
or area of emphasis, as determined by the community college district.
(2) Obtainment of a minimum grade point average of 2.0.
(b) (1) (A) As a condition of receipt of state apportionment
funds, a community college district shall develop and grant associate
degrees for transfer that meet the requirements of subdivision (a).
A community college district shall not impose any requirements in
addition to the requirements of this section, including any local
college or district requirements, for a student to be eligible for
the associate degree for transfer and subsequent admission to the
California State University pursuant to Section 66747.
(B) A community college shall, before the commencement of the
2014-15 academic year, create an associate degree for transfer in
every major offered by that college that has an approved transfer
model curriculum.
(C) A community college shall, before the commencement of the
2016-17 academic year, create an associate degree for transfer in
areas of emphasis for disciplines including, but not necessarily
limited to, all of the following:
(i) Applied sciences.
(ii) Formal sciences.
(iii) Humanities.
(iv) Natural sciences.
(v) Social sciences.
(2) The condition of receipt of state apportionment funding
contained in paragraph (1) shall become inoperative if, by December
31, 2010, each of the state's 72 community college districts has
submitted to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, for
transmission to the Director of Finance, signed certification
waiving, as a local agency request within the meaning of paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution, any claim of reimbursement related to the
implementation of this article.
(c) A community college district is encouraged to consider the
local articulation agreements and other work between the respective
faculties from the affected community college and California State
University campuses in implementing the requirements of this section.
(d) Community colleges are encouraged to facilitate the acceptance
of credits earned at other community colleges toward the associate
degree for transfer pursuant to this section.
(e) This section shall not preclude students who are assessed
below collegiate level from acquiring remedial noncollegiate level
coursework in preparation for obtaining the associate degree.
Remedial noncollegiate level coursework shall not be counted as part
of the transferable units required pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a).
SEC. 3. Section 66747 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66747. (a) (1) Notwithstanding Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
66201), the California State University shall guarantee admission
with junior status to any community college student who meets all of
the requirements of Section 66746. Admission to the California State
University, as provided under this article, does not guarantee
admission for specific majors or campuses. Notwithstanding Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 66201), the California State University
shall grant a student priority admission to his or her local
California State University 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 campus to which the
student is admitted. A California State University campus shall
accept transfer model curriculum-aligned associate degrees for
transfer in each of the California State University degree options
within a major field. The California State University shall accept
transfer model curriculum-aligned associate degrees for transfer in
each of the areas of emphasis listed in subparagraph (C) of paragraph
(1) of subdivision (b) of Section 66746.
(2) As used in this section, a "degree option" is an area of
specialization within a degree program.
(b) A student admitted under this article shall receive priority
over all other community college transfer students, in accordance
with subdivision (b) of Section 66202, 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 2012-13 academic year. A student admitted pursuant
to this article shall have met the requirements of an approved
transfer agreement consistent with subdivision (a) of Section 66202.
(c) The California State University shall develop an admissions
redirection process for students admitted under this article who
apply for admission to the California State University, but are not
accepted into the California State University campuses specifically
applied to. This process shall be aligned with the guaranteed
admission into the California State University system under
subdivision (a).
SEC. 4. Section 66748.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66748.5. The California Community Colleges and the California
State University, in consultation with students, faculty, student
service administrators, the State Department of Education, the
California Education Round Table, and other key stakeholders, shall
develop a student-centered communication and marketing strategy in
order to increase the visibility of the associate degree for transfer
pathway for all students in California that includes, but is not
necessarily limited to, all of the following:
(a) Outreach to high schools.
(b) Posters, banners, and marquees displayed at all community
colleges and transfer centers.
(c) Radio advertisements.
(d) Outreach materials to students considering attending the
California State University as first-year students.
(b) Information on the pathway prominently displayed in all
community college counseling offices and transfer centers.
(c) Associate degree for transfer pathway information provided to
all first-year community college students developing an education
plan to aid them in making informed educational choices.
(d) Targeted outreach to first-year students through campus
orientations and existing student support services programs (federal
TRIO programs), including, but not necessarily limited to,
First-Generation Experience, Mesa, and Puente.
(e) Information prominently displayed in community college course
catalogs.
(f) Information prominently displayed on the Internet Web sites of
each community college, each campus of the California State
University, and on the CaliforniaColleges.edu Internet Web site.
SEC. 5. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.