Transferring to a California State University will soon become a much easier process thanks to the new Senate Bill 1440.
The Student Transfer Achievement Reform or STAR Act was sponsored by California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and was unanimously passed by the state legislature on Aug. 25.
Senate Bill 1440 was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 30 and will create a new degree within the California community colleges called a transfer Associates of Arts.
“If everything gets put together properly it’ll make it a lot clearer for the student to know what they need to do to transfer to whatever school they are looking at,” said Corey Wendt, Department Chair of Counseling at Moorpark College.
Gone will be the days of worrying that the CSU transfer requirements differ from that of the community college.
The new SB 1440 will allow students to finish their 60 units at a community college and move straight to a CSU as a junior while still obtaining an Associates degree.
Once the student has completed their 60 units at the community level, they will only need an additional 60 units at the CSU level to graduate. The CSU believes that with SB 1440 in place students will be able to streamline their transfer process and minimize the amount of unnecessary and non-transferable courses students are currently taking.
“I think it’s great,” said Brayden Daniels, a 32-year-old Moorpark College student. “It should hopefully help put students on a fast track to their degree.”
The Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy says that only 22.7 percent of community college students who intend to transfer to a four-year university accomplish that goal.
With SB 1440 students will transfer with all lower division requirements complete regardless of how the transfer patterns may differ between campuses.
It will also allow students falling a few courses short of a traditional AA to get their transfer AA and move on to a four-year, having something to show for their time at the junior level.
“Students have to take so many units trying to fulfill so many requirements for different reasons,” said Judi Gould, the director of the Career Transfer Center. “If they want to transfer this will be a quick path. They can get their 60 units, get their transfer degree and be on their way.”
It is unlikely that most colleges will be able to implement the new degree programs by May, in reality we will see this new degree available to students by fall 2012.
