BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1016
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1016
(Santiago) - As Amended April 13, 2015
SUBJECT: Public postsecondary education: Student Transfer
Achievement Reform Act
SUMMARY: Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC)
Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) to report to the Legislature, on or
before March 1, 2016, the status of each community college's
compliance with the Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR)
Act's provision related to creating associate degrees for
transfer (ADTs); and, requires the California State University
(CSU) to submit two reports to the Legislature, as specified, on
campus acceptance of transfer model curricula (TMC) by
concentration. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the CCCCO, on or before March 1, 2016, to report to
the Legislature on the status of each CCCs compliance with the
provisions of this article related to creating ADTs.
2)Requires the CSU to submit two reports to the Legislature on
campus acceptance of TMC by concentration, on or before March
1, 2016, and on or before March 1, 2017, respectively.
AB 1016
Page 2
3)Requires the CSU, beginning November 1, 2018, and until
October 31, 2023, to annually post publicly available data on
both of the following:
a) The extent to which the CSU admitted associate degree
transfer students to the students' first choice campus and
to a program that is similar to their transfer degree; and,
b) Associate degree transfer student outcomes, including
all of the following data:
i) The number of transferable CCC units taken before
the start of a student's first semester at the CSU,
ii) The number of units taken as a fully matriculated
CSU student, and,
iii) The proportion of students who graduate from the
CSU within two or three years.
4)Specifies that the data made publicly available, as specified,
shall differentiate between the extent to which the CSU
admitted ADT students to their first campus of choice and to a
program that is similar to their transfer degree.
5)Specifies that the first annual posting of data on November 1,
2018, shall include data on students entering Fall 2014 to
Fall 2016, inclusive; and, each annual posting in subsequent
years shall include data only on students entering the prior
AB 1016
Page 3
school year.
6)Specifies that the requirements for the reports the CCCCO
shall submit, on or before March 1, 2016 will be inoperative
on March 1, 2020; and, the report the CSU shall issue, on or
before March 1, 2017, will be inoperative on March 1, 2021.
7)Allows for reimbursement to the appropriate entities should
the Commission on State Mandates determine that there are
mandated state costs.
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
(Education Code Section 66746).
2)Requires the CSU to guarantee admission with junior status to
any community college student who meets the specified
requirements in 1) above, but provides that the student is not
guaranteed admission for specific majors or campuses.
However, the CSU is required to grant a student priority
admission to his or her local CSU 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 CSU campus to which the
student is admitted. Students that utilize the associate
transfer degree process are required to receive priority over
all other community college transfer students, except for
community college students who have entered into a transfer
AB 1016
Page 4
agreement between a community college and the CSU prior to the
fall term of the 2012-13 academic year (EC Section 66747).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Background. As a way to address long standing issues
and concerns about the need to ensure a clearer, transparent and
more navigable transfer process between the CCC and CSU, the
Legislature and Governor enacted SB 1440 (Padilla), Chapter 428,
Statutes of 2010. This legislation required community colleges
to create two-year 60 unit associate degrees for transfer that
are fully transferable to CSU. These degrees require completion
of (1) a minimum of 18 units in a major or area of emphasis, as
determined by each community college, and (2) an approved set of
general education requirements. Students who earn such a degree
are automatically eligible to transfer to the CSU system as an
upper-division student in a bachelor's degree program. Though
these students are not guaranteed admission to a particular CSU
campus or into a particular degree program, SB 1440 gives them
priority admission to a CSU program that is "similar" to the
student's CCC major or area of emphasis, as determined by the
CSU campus to which the student is admitted. Once admitted, SB
1440 students need only complete two additional years (an
additional 60 units) of coursework to earn a bachelor's degree.
Senate Bill 440 (Padilla), Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013,
requires, prior to the 2014-15 academic year, a CCC create an
ADT in every major that has a TMC. Once a TMC is approved by
faculty, community colleges use it to design an ADT in that
particular major.
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) Report. "Implementation
Update: Reforming Transfer from CCC to CSU," which was released
on February 2, 2015, found, among others, that there has been
AB 1016
Page 5
continued progress in the implementation of the STAR Act, but
some of the CCC and CSU campuses are not fully on track to
meeting the Legislature's targets for implementation. The LAO
contends that the state's transfer reform is too recent to fully
assess its effectiveness in a comprehensive way. That said,
according to the report, the CCC, appears on track to make
additional progress in accepting ADTs as similar to its majors
and concentrations.
As a way to ensure more students are familiar with the ADT and
its direct path for CSU transfer, and to help the Legislature
monitor how the segments are implementing the STAR Act, the
report recommended one near-term report from the CCC and two
from the CSU to track the segments' progress in creating ADTs
and accepting TMC; and, require the CSU to annually provide data
on certain student outcomes (including admittance to campuses
and programs of choice, units taken, and graduation rates),
beginning Fall 2018.
Purpose of this measure. According to the author, the STAR Act
does not require the CCC to update the Legislature on ADT
development or require the CSU to report on TMC acceptance or
ADT Student outcomes. The author states, "AB 1016, by providing
more information in the coming years, will help the Legislature
track CCC/CSU progress in implementing transfer reform.
Furthermore, this bill will help transfer students more easily
achieve their educational and career goals."
Policy consideration. As drafted, the bill uses the term
"program that is similar to their transfer degree" (see 66749.5
(c)(1) (A)); if the author's intent is for data to show how many
ADT transfer students who applied to an impacted program but did
not gain access, but were accepted to a similar non-impacted
program, the term "program that is similar to their transfer
degree" may not be necessary. Moving forward, the author may
wish to delete the reference of "program that is similar to
their transfer degree".
AB 1016
Page 6
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Chamber of Commerce
Community College League of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
AB 1016
Page 7