GOVERNOR SIGNS BILLS EASING TRANSFERS FROM JUNIOR COLLEGES TO CSU & UC

By Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer - LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/bE6Xlx

THE KARIOKE GÜBERNATOR?: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sings (sic) bills to guarantee CSU admission to community college graduates at Mission College in Sylmar Monday morning. (David Crane / Staff Photographer)

10/04/2010 06:57:01 PM PDT - Community college students have been forced for decades to juggle classes to meet the unique transfer requirements of each California four-year university.

No more.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Monday to allow students to obtain a one-size-fits-all transfer degree for all 23 California State University campuses. A similar law is proposed for transfers to the University of California.

"Today is a great day to celebrate," Schwarzenegger told a packed hall of more than 1,000 professors, students and California university officials at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar.

"We have to make those four-year degrees easier to obtain, not by lowering standards, but by terminating these bureaucratic roadblocks."

Authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, Senate Bill 1440 guarantees community college students can transfer to any Cal State university after earning an associate degree.

The law, which goes into effect next year, will allow students to go on to such schools as CSU Long Beach and Dominguez Hills after obtaining 60 semester units of study.

With the average student taking 20 units more than needed to transfer - and lacking just 42 units for a bachelor's degree - the law will shorten the time to graduation, state officials say.

It will also save $160 million a year in wasted classroom time.

The law is designed to speed up graduations and provide access to 55,000 more college students. A pending bill, Assembly Bill 2302, aims to streamline student transfers into the UC system.

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• smf notes: AB2302 (Fong) is not pending - it was also signed at the same ceremony, streamlining similar transfers from community colleges into the U of C system. | see: http://bit.ly/9N6nbR  Now, if the three California college systems only had adequate funding…. See:

  Community college class wait lists throw a wrench into students' plans

  By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times

  October 4, 2010 - Enrollment in California's colleges has surged, but budget cuts leave many students unable to get the courses they need, meaning it'll take them longer to earn a degree and join the workforce.   story: http://lat.ms/btZUzc

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"For our economy to succeed, we need the best educated work force possible," Padilla said. "We know we can do it, but the bureaucracy must get out of the way."

Padilla said only a quarter of all community college students go on to four-year schools. Among blacks and Latinos, transfers number only 10 percent.

As the so-called "community college governor" prepared to sign Padilla's bill, a hush fell over the cavernous hall.

Then when Schwarzenegger worked his pen next to California Community College President Jack Scott and Cal State University Chancellor Charles Reed, the room exploded in applause.

"I'm incredibly happy - astounded that this is happening right now," said Christopher Silva, 20, of Sylmar, who plans to study philosophy at Cal State Northridge or USC in preparation for a law degree.