Public postsecondary education: transfer requirements.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act establishes the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law establishes community college districts, which operate campuses providing instruction to students throughout the state. The provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. The act establishes a program with the purpose of ensuring that community college students who wish to earn baccalaureate degrees at a campus of the California State University are able to do so, and requires the Chancellor of the California State University to implement various requirements in connection with the establishment of that program. The act requires the chancellor, on or before June 1, 2005, and in consultation with the Academic Senate of the California State University and with faculty responsible for each high-demand baccalaureate degree major program, to specify for each of those major programs a systemwide lower division transfer curriculum, and requires the systemwide lower division transfer curriculum to be composed of at least 45 semester course units, or the quarter-unit equivalent. Each California State University campus, by June 1, 2006, is also required to identify campus-specific requirements beyond the systemwide lower-division transfer curriculum requirements for each major. This bill would change the date by which the chancellor is required to establish the admissions requirements for community college transfer students to June 1, 2012, and would increase to 60 the number of required semester course units, or the quarter-unit equivalent, for the systemwide lower division transfer curriculum for each high-demand baccalaureate degree major program. The bill would delete the requirement that each California State University campus identify campus-specific requirements beyond the systemwide lower division transfer curriculum requirements, and would prohibit a campus of the California State University from imposing nonelective lower division course requirements for transfer students in high-demand baccalaureate degree major programs that are in addition to those specified by the chancellor. The bill would make other conforming changes.