WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 1705 (Irwin, 2022) was enacted to advance equitable access to transfer-level mathematics and English courses for California Community college students by preventing colleges from requiring students to enroll in remedial non-transferable math courses [4];

WHEREAS, Only 21% of Latinos and Native Americans and 16% African-Americans in California high schools are considered proficient in math, meaning they are less likely to perform well in transfer-level mathematics and less likely to pursue careers that require proficiency in math [1]; and

WHEREAS, Housing insecurity continues to affect California Community College students and presents a barrier to academic persistence, engagement, and completion, as evidenced by rising participation in the California Community Colleges Homeless and Housing Insecurity Program (HHIP), which increased from 960 students served in 2020 to 2,356 in 2024, and by the lower average course success rate of 63% for HHIP participants compared to 73% systemwide, reflecting the severe financial and housing instability challenges these students face; (1)  

WHEREAS, The California Community College Guided Pathways aim to give students skills, credentials, and socioeconomic mobility [1], and the study abroad programs offer unique opportunities to cultivate skills that employers seek in their applicants, increasing the likelihood of employment and better income [7];

WHEREAS, Cultural diplomacy is an essential part of peaceful international relations, and individual knowledge of the world and personal connections are significant to such endeavors as community building at home and peace processes across the globe [8];

WHEREAS, California Community Colleges currently lack dedicated disability studies courses that count toward the ethnic studies graduation requirement, denying students the opportunity to engage with and understand the critical issues surrounding disability rights, accessibility, and inclusion as part of their academic curriculum;

WHEREAS, California’s legal profession, despite progress, still does not reflect the diversity of the state, with particularly severe underrepresentation for Women, AAPI, Black, Latino/a, Native American and other communities of color, underscoring the need to strengthen and widen the pathway into legal education and legal careers; while White attorneys are overrepresented in California’s attorney population (64 %) compared to their representation in the state’s adult population (37%) and people of color are notably underrepresented in the attorney population (36%) compared to the state’s a

WHEREAS, A significant number of California community college students seek transfer to University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) campuses, and alliances such as UCLA’s Transfer Alliance Program (TAP) have been shown to improve transfer admission outcomes by enhancing students’ “ability to transfer to UCLA at the junior level from a participating California community college” [1] through honors program certification; and research further indicates that “those students who participate in community college honors programs experience minimal transfer shock” [2], demon

WHEREAS, The baccalaureate degree that Moorpark College applied for was deemed to be a duplicate so it was rejected based upon having the same classes that are at the California State Universities [1];

WHEREAS, The California Code, Education Code §78042 has a one sentence clause to allow a California State University or a University of California school to claim duplication and reject any Community College baccalaureate degree program [2];

WHEREAS, California Education Code § 78042 restricts the number of bachelor’s programs to 30 per academic year and prohibits California Community Colleges from offering bachelor’s degrees that duplicate programs already offered by the California State University or University of California systems [1], leading to the Cal State University system campuses consistently interjecting into the bachelor's degree applications, even when the bachelor's degree would not be a duplicate, citing duplicate upper divisional courses, specifically in the case of San Diego Mesa, they had been opposed by CSU

WHEREAS, The 9+1 Student Rights, which encompass grading policies, codes of student conduct, academic disciplinary policies, curriculum development, institutional planning, student success standards, student services, student fees, and other significant policies, currently lack formalized enforcement mechanisms, leaving students without clear pathways to address violations [1];

WHEREAS, Campus safety policies, procedures, and practices including emergency response, law enforcement practices, crime prevention, threat assessment, and safety communications have a significant effect on students and directly shape the learning environment at California Community Colleges;