BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 1016 (Santiago) - Public postsecondary education:  Student  
          Transfer Achievement Reform Act
          
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          |Version: July 8, 2015           |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0          |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: Yes                    |
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          |Hearing Date: July 13, 2015     |Consultant: Jillian Kissee      |
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          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  This bill requires the California Community Colleges  
          Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) and the California State University  
          (CSU) to submit reports, as specified, regarding the status of  
          creating associate degrees for transfer (ADT).


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           Both the CCCCO and the CSU indicate that costs would be minor  
            and absorbable to implement this bill. 


     Background:1)  SB 1440 (Padilla, Chapter 428, Statutes of 2010) required  
          community colleges to create two-year 60 unit associate degrees  
          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  







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          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 to only complete two  
          additional years (an additional 60 units) of coursework to earn  
          a bachelor's degree. 

          SB 440 (Padilla, Chapter 720, Statutes of 2013) expanded these  
          provisions to require that the California Community College  
          (CCC) create ADTs in every major, and in areas of emphasis, and  
          required that the CSU accept these degrees, and develop an  
          admissions redirection process for students who complete these  
          degrees but are denied admission to the CSU campus to which they  
          have applied.  SB 440 also required the CCC and the CSU to  
          establish a student-centered communication and marketing  
          strategy to increase the visibility of the associate degree for  
          transfer pathway. 

          This bill generally implements the recommendations of a recent  
          Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) report that came out in  
          spring 2015.  It recommends one near-term report from the CCC  
          (in fall 2015) and two from CSU (in fall 2015 and fall 2016) to  
          track the segments' progress in creating ADTs and accepting  
          transfer model curricula.  LAO also recommends the Legislature  
          require the CSU annually to provide data on certain student  
          outcomes (including admittance to campuses and programs of  
          choice, units taken, and graduation rates) beginning fall 2018.


          Proposed Law:  
           This bill requires the CCCCO to report to the Legislature by  
          December 1, 2016 on the status of creating ADT.  
          This bill also requires the CSU to submit two reports to the  
          Legislature on campus acceptance of transfer model curricula by  
          concentration by December 1, 2016 and December 1, 2017,  
          respectively.  Beginning December 1, 2016, the CSU is required  
          to annually, until November 30, 2021, publicly post data on all  
          of the following:









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             1.   The number of students admitted with an ADT.


             2.   The proportion of students with an ADT who graduate from  
               CSU within two or three years.


             3.   The number of students with an ADT who applied to a  
               particular CSU campus and were redirected to another  
               campus.


             4.   The number of students who were redirected and who  
               ultimately enrolled at a CSU campus.




          Staff  
          Comments:  This bill is keyed as a state mandate.  However,  
          since this bill imposes requirements upon the CCCCO and not  
          community college districts, the requirements of this bill are  
          unlikely to be considered a reimbursable state mandate by the  
          Commission on State Mandates.  In addition, according to the  
          CCCCO, it already produces the information required by this bill  
          through ADT Progress Reports, so there will be no fiscal impact  
          on colleges or the CCCCO.  There would be absorbable costs to  
          publish formal reports to be transmitted to the Legislature and  
          LAO.


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