How does Cal-GETC impact CSU GE Breadth?
The CSU has always had one GE pattern, CSU GE Breadth, for both students who come to the CSU as freshmen and those who come as transfer students. This creates an equitable learning experience for all CSU students and allows students to move easily between the CSU and California Community Colleges in order to complete their GE requirements. Starting in fall 2025, Community College students will complete Cal-GETC, thus raising the question of whether the CSU should adopt Cal-GETC for CSU freshmen.
How would Cal-GETC impact first-year first-time students?
About 60% of our first-year students come to us with some sort of community college transfer credit, such as through the dual enrollment program that allows them to complete community college courses while in high school at a minimal cost. In addition, the CSU has launched a dual admission program called the Transfer Success Pathway for students who have recently completed high school. They also are impacted by these changes.
How would Cal-GETC impact returning students?
CSU students may “reverse transfer" to a community college to take summer courses or complete an ADT and then come back to the CSU. Some students may stop out and then reenroll at a CSU a few years later.
What is the benefit of choosing the ADT pathway?
ADTs facilitate timely degree completion. Half of the transfer students who come to us with an ADT achieve their CSU degree in two years, compared to 35% of the students without an ADT. That's a 15-percentage point advantage for transfer students with ADTs.
What is the Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee?
The act establishes, until July 1, 2025, the Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee to serve as the primary entity charged with the oversight of the ADT for the sole purpose of strengthening the pathway for students and to ensure it becomes the primary transfer pathway in California between campuses of the California Community Colleges and the University of California, the California State University and participating independent institutions of higher education.
The committee is charged with: ensuring a reduction in the number of excess units accumulated by California Community College students before transferring to four-year postsecondary educational institutions; eliminating repetition of courses at four-year postsecondary educational institutions taken by California Community College students who successfully transfer into four-year postsecondary educational institutions; and increasing the number of California Community College students who transfer into a four-year postsecondary educational institution through an ADT pathway. It will also serve to enhance coordination and communication between four-year postsecondary educational institutions and the California Community Colleges by providing a venue by which they can regularly meet and address issues and provide the Legislature and the Governor with recommendations.
Who are the members of the Intersegmental Implementation Committee and how were they chosen?
The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021 requires a cross-section of stakeholders to fulfill the committee's responsibilities, with each of the following entities having one representative to serve on the committee:
The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges
The Office of the Chancellor of the California State University
The Office of the President of the University of California
The Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
The State Department of Education
The Student Senate for the California Community Colleges
The California State Student Association
The University of California Student Association
The Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges
The Academic Senate of the California State University
In addition, the following five representatives will be selected:
The Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint one member from the workforce sector with expertise in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint one member with a background in higher education research that includes scholarship on student transfer issues in the state.
The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one member from an educational equity and social justice organization.
The Governor shall appoint one member from an educational equity and social justice organization.
The Governor shall appoint one member who is a California community college student.
What is the role of the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates in this work?
AB 928 specified that on or before May 31, 2023, the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges shall establish a singular lower division general education pathway that meets the academic requirements necessary for transfer admission to both the California State University and University of California.
