BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 440
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
SB 440 (Padilla) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: Student Transfer
Achievement Reform Act.
SUMMARY : Amends the Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR)
Act (SB 1440, Padilla, Chapter 428, Statutes of 2010) to require
California Community Colleges (CCC) to create associate degrees
for transfer within specified timelines and to require
California State University (CSU) to accept these degrees in
majors and concentrations that meet specified requirements.
Additionally, requires CCC and CSU to provide outreach regarding
the STAR Act transfer pathway. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that associate degrees for transfer must meet the
requirements of an approved transfer model curriculum (TMC).
2)Requires CCC to create a TMC-aligned associate degree for
transfer in every major and area of emphasis offered by the
college for which an approved TMC has been finalized, within
18 months of the approval of the TMC. Provides until
commencement of the 2015-16 academic year, for creation of
TMC-aligned associate degrees for any TMC finalized prior to
commencement of the 2013-2014 academic year.
3)Requires, before the commencement of the 2015-16 academic
year, the development of at least two TMC in areas of
emphasis, and at least an additional two TMC in areas of
emphasis by the commencement of the 2016-17 academic year.
4)Specifies that CCC may require college success courses in
preparation of obtaining an associate degree and that these
nontransferable courses shall not be counted as part of the
transferable unit limitation.
5)Requires CSU:
a) In guaranteeing admission with junior status to any CCC
student who meets the associate degree for transfer
SB 440
Page 2
requirements, to provide admission to a program or major
concentration that is, either:
i) Deemed similar to his/her CCC TMC-aligned associate
degree for transfer, as determined by the CSU campus to
which the student is admitted; or
ii) That can be completed within 60 semester units of
study beyond the CCC TMC-aligned associate degree for
transfer, with completion ability determined by the CSU
campus to which the student is admitted.
b) To accept TMC-aligned associate degrees for transfer in
every major and concentration offered by that CSU campus
that meets the aforementioned requirements. Requires CSU
campuses to make every effort to accept TMC-aligned
associate degrees for transfer in each of the CSU
concentrations. Defines "concentration" as an area of
specialization within a major degree program.
c) To develop an admissions redirection process for STAR
Act transfer students who apply for admission but are not
accepted into the CSU campuses specifically applied to.
6)Requires CCC and CSU, in consultation with stakeholders, to
develop a communication and marketing strategy to increase the
visibility of the associate degree for transfer pathway that
includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
a) Outreach to high schools.
b) Information on the pathway prominently displayed in all
CCC counseling and transfer centers.
c) Information on the pathway provided to all first-year
CCC students developing an educational plan.
d) Targeted outreach to first-year students through campus
orientations and existing student support services programs
that may include, but not be limited to, First-Generation
Experience, Mesa, and Puente.
e) Information on the pathway prominently displayed in CCC
course catalogs.
SB 440
Page 3
f) Information on the pathway prominently displayed on the
websites of each CCC and each CSU, and on the
CaliforniaColleges.edu website.
7)Provides that if the Commission on State Mandates determines
that the act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those
costs shall be made pursuant to existing law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the STAR Act and requires CCC to develop two-year
(60 semester unit) associate degrees for transfer, which deems
the student eligible for transfer into CSU. The associate
degrees for transfer are required to include a minimum of 18
units in a major or area of emphasis, as determined by CCC,
and an approved set of general education requirements.
2)CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to
CCC students who meet the aforementioned requirements.
Students are not guaranteed admission for specific majors or
campuses, but CSU is required to provide priority admission to
a student's local CSU campus and to a program or major that is
similar to his or her associate degree for transfer major or
area of emphasis, as determined by the CSU campus to which the
student is admitted. Unless enrolled in a high unit major,
students are required to complete only two additional years
(60 semester units) of coursework at the CSU campus to earn a
bachelor's degree.
3)Students that utilize the associate transfer degree process
receive priority over all other CCC transfer students, except
for CCC students who have entered into a transfer agreement
between a CCC and the CSU prior to the fall term of the
2012-13 academic year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee: One-time costs of $700,000 - $1 million to develop
associate degrees for transfer for every major that has a TMC
and every area of emphasis; minor ongoing workload for CCC
campuses for communication efforts; and, no new costs for the
CSU redirection process as CSU has recently developed a
redirection process.
COMMENTS : Background . Following passage of the STAR Act, CCC
SB 440
Page 4
and CSU formed the Implementation Oversight Committee (IOC) to
work through enactment of the provisions of the law. While the
STAR Act required individual CCC to develop degrees for
transfer, CCC and CSU academic senates opted instead for a
statewide approach to degree development in order to prevent
significant variation in student lower-division coursework.
Under this statewide development structure, faculty worked
together to develop statewide Transfer Model Curricula (TMC).
The TMC identify a pattern of lower-division courses in a major
or area of emphasis that are deemed to adequately prepare CCC
transfer students for the upper-division coursework within that
major or area of emphasis. As of June 2013, TMC for 24 majors
have been developed; there are currently no TMC in an "area of
emphasis".
Once a TMC is approved, each community college works to design a
"TMC-aligned associate degree for transfer" in that particular
major or area of emphasis. The college department faculty
determines the courses that make up the 18 required major units,
based on the TMC. The proposed degree is vetted by the
college's interdisciplinary curriculum committee and approved by
the district governing board at a public hearing. The college
submits the proposed degree to the CCC Chancellor's Office
(CCCCO) for review and approval. The CCCCO has set a goal of,
by the end of 2014, all colleges having an associate degree for
transfer in all programs in which they currently offer an
associate degree and there is an approved TMC. Several colleges
appear to be on track to achieve that goal. However, as of June
2013, having adopted 760 out of a total 1654 degrees, statewide
CCC are less than halfway toward achieving that goal.
Under the STAR Act, CSU is responsible for determining which
"TMC-aligned associate degrees for transfer" are similar to its
own majors. According to CSU, an associate degree for transfer
is considered similar to a CSU baccalaureate degree "when a
specific CSU campus by its processes determines that a student
so prepared can successfully complete the bachelor's degree
within 60 additional units." The CSU Chancellor's Office tasked
each CSU campus with identifying similar degrees for each of the
approved TMCs. The Chancellor's Office has set a goal of
offering at least one similar degree option in each TMC
discipline in which a campus offers a bachelor's degree. As of
June 2013, CSU campuses have declared 927 similar programs.
Eight CSU campuses have identified at least one similar degree
option in each TMC discipline where a bachelor's degree is
SB 440
Page 5
offered, another ten campuses are within two degrees of
achieving this goal. For five campuses, there are three or more
TMC in areas where the campus offers a bachelor's degree but has
not yet been able to deem a similar degree program.
LAO recommendations . In May of 2012, the Legislative Analyst's
Office (LAO) released "Reforming the State's Transfer Process: A
Progress Report on Senate Bill 1440", which found that
additional work needed to be done by both segments in order to
achieve the Legislature's intent. Specifically, the LAO
recommended the Legislature:
1)Statutorily endorse the TMC approach as the preferred basis
for associate degrees for transfer, and consider setting an
expectation for the development of additional TMC.
2)Statutorily clarify that CCC are expected to create an
associate degree for transfer in every major they offer that
has an approved TMC, and consider establishing a timeline for
achievement of full compliance.
3)Clarify in statute the expectation that, with limited
exceptions, CSU campuses must accept TMC-aligned associate
degrees for transfer in each of the CSU degree options within
a given major.
4)Begin to identify next steps if the segments fall short of
meeting the above goals. These steps could include involving
external entities to address areas of poor compliance and the
loss of some state funding (or increases if goals are
exceeded).
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, while
significant progress has been made, three years after the
passage of the STAR Act (SB 1440, Chapter 428, Statutes of 2010)
there are still foundational elements lacking in the areas of
access, flexibility, and communication of this new transfer
pathway. The author believes that without robust implementation
of the STAR Act the state's transfer mission, students, and
ultimately the State of California, will suffer.
Issues addressed in this bill . This bill addresses several of
the recommendations of the LAO, issues raised by the Campaign
for College Opportunity (Campaign), and amendments requested by
the segments.
SB 440
Page 6
1)Statutory recognition of TMC process . Existing law deems a
student eligible for transfer into the CSU under the
provisions of the STAR Act when a student has completed (1)
the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC) or the CSU General Education-Breadth Requirements;
and, (2) a minimum of 18 semester units in a major or area of
emphasis, as determined by the CCC. This bill specifies that
the 18 semester units in a major or area of emphasis must meet
the requirements of an approved TMC. This change is
consistent with STAR Act implementation to date and with the
LAO recommendation.
2)CCC degree adoption timelines . Existing law does not
establish a minimum number of associate degrees for transfer
or a timeline for adoption at CCC campuses. This bill would,
consistent with the CCCCO internal goal, require each CCC to
create an associate degree for transfer in every major and
area of emphasis offered by the college for which an approved
TMC has been finalized. Consistent with the LAO
recommendation, this bill would establish an 18 month deadline
for adoption, following the approval of the TMC. According to
the CCCCO, 18 months is consistent with the current timeline
for creation of degrees.
3)Student success courses . Student success courses are designed
to teach students how to navigate college; courses generally
include lessons in study skills and time management, among
other topics. Many CCC campuses encourage or require
first-year students to enroll in student success courses. At
the request of the CCCCO, this bill authorizes CCC to enroll
students in nontransferable student success courses and
excludes those courses from the TMC-aligned associate degree
for transfer unit limitation.
4)Development of TMC in areas of emphasis . Under the STAR Act
provisions, CCC were required to create associate degrees for
transfer that included 18 semester units within a major or
area of emphasis. The term "area of emphasis" is not defined
in statute; it is generally accepted as a less-specialized
degree program, one with a broader curriculum within an
academic subject area.
As indicated in the November 2012 report from the Campaign,
"Meeting Compliance, but Missing the Mark" various CSU
SB 440
Page 7
campuses have difficulty aligning upper-division coursework to
meet accreditation standards if a student completes 18 units
of subject prep in a major pre-transfer. The Campaign notes
that most CSU bachelor's degrees do not require 18 units of
lower-division coursework within a major. To address this
concern, this bill would require, by the commencement of the
2015-16 academic year, the development of TMC in at least two
areas of emphasis, and by the 2016-17 academic year, the
development of TMC in at least four areas of emphasis.
The Campaign identified a number of CCC currently offering
associate degrees in areas of emphasis. American River
College currently offers associate degrees in
Interdisciplinary Studies; these degrees are marketed as a
pathway for students to prepare to transfer into a variety of
majors at a four year college. Modesto Junior College offers
an associate degree in "University Preparation, Emphasis in
Humanities" and Golden West College offers several Liberal
Arts degrees with emphasis in a variety of broad areas of
study.
5)CSU similar degrees . Existing law provides students priority
admission to CSU degree programs that are deemed by the CSU
campus as "similar" to their TMC-aligned associate degree.
According to the LAO, "while all CSU campuses have deemed at
least some of their degree options similar to certain
TMC-aligned associate degrees, acceptance is far from
universal. Responses have varied across campuses and majors."
This variation means students may not be granted priority
admission or a 60-unit cap on additional required courses.
This bill would require CSU to accept TMC-aligned associate
degrees for transfer in every major offered by that CSU campus
that is deemed "similar" or where degree completion can occur
within 60 semester units. Further, this bill, consistent with
the LAO recommendation, would require CSU campuses to make
every effort to accept TMC-aligned associate degrees for
transfer in each of the CSU concentrations within a major
degree program.
6)CSU redirection . This bill requires CSU to develop an
admissions redirection process for students who apply but are
not accepted into their specific CSU campus. According to
CSU, in 2011, a memorandum (Coded: AA-2011-19) was issued to
campuses detailing the actions campuses must take to meet the
admissions and redirection provisions of the law.
SB 440
Page 8
Specifically, campuses designated as impacted or with impacted
programs are directed to utilize the redirection functionality
in CSU Mentor. Once a student is denied admission due to
impaction, the student will receive a letter from the denying
campus, informing the student that their application has been
redirected to at least one other campus. The campus that the
student's application is referred to must have capacity to
admit the student in the student's major pathway. CSU
indicates an intention to make additional improvements to CSU
Mentor to provide students with information regarding impacted
campuses and programs.
7)Outreach programs . According to the November 2012 report by
the Campaign, the availability of the associate degree for
transfer pathway is not being communicated well to students.
There are statewide marketing campaigns led by the two systems
consisting of a website, radio advertisements, and direct
outreach to counselors and staff. However, the benefits of
the degrees are not being fully communicated to students on
the individual campuses. An informal survey by the Campaign
found that of the 407 students surveyed at 42 CCC campuses,
only 30% had heard about the associate degree for transfer
program, and of those students intending to transfer only 33%
were aware of the program. This bill requires the segments,
in coordination with stakeholders, to take specific actions to
improve and expand outreach.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Advancement Project
Alliance College Ready Public Schools
Alliance for a Better Community
California Campus Compact
California Communities United Institute
California Competes
California Hospital Association
Campaign for College Opportunity
Central Valley Higher Education Consortium
Families in Schools
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Girls, Inc.
Hispanas Organized for Political Equality
Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County
SB 440
Page 9
Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley
Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Inland Coalition
Inland Empire Economic Partnership
InnerCity Struggle
League of Woman Voters of California
Long Beach City College
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Urban League
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Middle College High School at San Joaquin Delta College
National Council of La Raza
Napa Valley College
Parent Institute for Quality Education
Project Grad Los Angeles
Public Advocates
Regional Economic Association Leaders of California
Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
Stanislaus County Office of Education
State Center Community College District
Southern California College Access Network
The Education Trust - West
The Institute for College Access and Success
The Women's Foundation of California
Youth Policy Institute
Opposition
Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges
Academic Senate of the California State University
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960