SB 1440
A Message From the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) on SB 1440
The Student Transfer Agreement Reform Act (SB 1440 – Padilla), signed into legislation on September 29, 2010, enables the California Community Colleges and California State University to collaborate on the creation of Associate in Arts Degree (AA) and Associate in Science (AS) Degree transfer programs. This new law requires community colleges to grant an associate degree for transfer to a student once a student has met specified general education and major requirements for the degree. Upon completion of the associate degree, the student is eligible for transfer with junior standing into the California State University (CSU) system.
Students are given guaranteed admission into the California State University (CSU) system, and further are given priority consideration when applying to a particular program that is similar to the student’s community college major. The law prohibits the CSU from requiring a transferring student to repeat courses similar to those taken at the community college that counted toward their associate degree for transfer. It is expected that community college students will be able to declare an interest in pursuing specific transfer AA/AS degrees beginning the Fall 2011-12 academic year.
Additional information is available to assist counselors at www.sb1440.org.
NEW! The Legislative Analyst's Office has just issued the following report: Reforming the State's Transfer Process: A Progress Report on Senate Bill 1440. The Legislature has long recognized the importance of facilitating the efficient transfer of students between the California Community Colleges (CCC) and four-year universities. Despite this emphasis, however, CCC students must often navigate a complex maze of transfer course requirements, which can make accessing and completing a baccalaureate program difficult. In an attempt to fundamentally reform the state’s main transfer pipeline—from CCC to the California State University (CSU) system—the Legislature and Governor enacted Chapter 428, Statutes of 2010 (SB 1440, Padilla). The legislation requires community colleges to create two-year associate degrees for transfer. 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.
This report finds that since the legislation was enacted, CCC and CSU have made some progress, but additional work needs to be done by both segments to achieve SB 1440's intended goals. For their part, community colleges need to increase the number of associate degrees for transfer they make available to students. It is incumbent on CSU, meanwhile, to maximize the number of academic programs to which these degrees can be applied. Toward these ends, we recommend the Legislature provide additional guidance and clarification to CCC and CSU on their responsibilities, as well as continued oversight to track their progress.
This report is available using the following link: http://lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2631