The three-year-old Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act (SB 1440)–which seeks to increase the number of transfers from community colleges to campuses in the California State University (CSU) system–has increased accessibility by doubling the number of associates degrees eligible for transfer to 1,000.

Since SB 1440 was signed, the academic senates of both the CSU and California Community Colleges (CCC) have been working to develop new qualifying degrees that would enhance the transfer system and encourage more community college students to strive for admission into four-year institutions. Under the program, students who complete 60 units of transferable coursework, in areas of study from art history to physics, are provided guaranteed admission with junior standing into the CSU system.

Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 11.06.40 AMCreating more degrees for transfer was prompted by a report released last year by the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity, who pointed out that though SB 1440 was implemented properly across the on a system-wide level, “the same momentum and effort has not been replicated at all the individual colleges and universities and that significant work remains to be done.”

Just one year ago, only 501 degrees were available for transfer. That number has now doubled.

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“As a community college transfer student myself, I know first-hand how frustrating it can be to meet transfer requirements,” said Long Beach City College Superintendent-President Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who also served as a member of the Task Force charged with implementing SB 1440. “This new program will lessen the delays students faced in the past and get them into higher level courses within the CSU system and ultimately into the workforce quicker.”

Here in Long Beach, the program has already proved fruitful, with the campaign report listing CSULB as a “high performing” university for implementing SB 1440.

“When community college students are afforded an opportunity to achieve an associate degree and then transfer to the CSU with guaranteed junior status, then everyone benefits,” said Terri Carbaugh, Associate Vice President for External Relations at Cal State Long Beach. “The student gains an advantage because he or she will not have wasted time and money duplicating course credits and is more likely to earn both an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree in a shorter period of time; and the California taxpayer benefits by receiving a higher return on his or her investment in higher education when the two systems align and produce greater outcomes.”

Statewide, the program saw 1,730 Associate of Science transfers and 3,571 Associate of Arts transfers during the 2012-2013 school year.

“California’s community college students now have a wide range of degree programs to select from that easily transfer into a CSU and provide a clear path to a bachelors degree,” said Oakley. “This opens up many opportunities for Long Beach City College students and other community college students across the state looking to move along with their academic goals.”

Read the Campaign for College Opportunity report below:

Meeting Compliance, Missing the Mark: Full Report from The Campaign for College Opportunity, November, 2012…