“I would like to commend the Governor, the legislature, Senator Padilla, Assemblymember Fong, Chancellor Scott and the many people whose hard work over the past 12 years helped us arrive at this historic day,” said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. “This is a watershed moment for future college students across the state of California, who will now be able to more easily reach their goal of attaining a bachelor’s degree.
SB 1440, approved unanimously by the legislature on August 25, was authored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and sponsored by Chancellor Reed, California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott, the Campaign for College Opportunity, the California State Student Association and Student Senate of the California Community Colleges. AB 2302, also approved unanimously by the legislature, was authored by Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Cupertino).
“SB 1440 will fundamentally change higher education in California. With this bill, more students will successfully transfer and earn bachelor’s degrees in less time,” said Senator Padilla (D-Pacoima). “To meet the growing demand for skilled workers, we must dramatically improve the rate at which students transfer from community colleges and graduate from four-year universities. SB 1440 will better align our higher education system, saving students time, money and freeing up state resources to serve more students,” Padilla added.
The statute establishes a transfer Associate of Arts Degree (AA) for those students who have completed 60 transferrable units. Community college students that obtain the transfer AA degree will be admitted to the CSU with junior standing. Both the CSU and the CCC estimate millions of dollars in savings by eliminating excess units that transfer students often accumulate in completing their degree. By simplifying the transfer process, the STAR Act also frees up seats for other students allowing the CSU and the CCC to serve an additional 50,000 students.
View the original article on the California State University homepage“http://www.calstate.edu/pa/News/2010/release/SB1440_2302.shtml.