Legislators passed senate Bill 1440, or the Student Achievement Transfer Reform (STAR) Act, on Aug. 25. The Act will create more formal transfer guidelines for students to follow as they begin community college. The Governor signed the bill into law on Sept. 30.

Currently, guidelines for transferring differ from one CSU or UC to the next, which is quite difficult for students applying to more than one university. The bill establishes a transfer Associate of Arts Degree (AA), making students with 60 transferable units eligible at all CSUs. Legislators believe this would save millions of dollars and help students transfer faster. Now, all community college students who graduate with a C average or better will be guaranteed admission to CSUs as juniors.

In a news release, bill author state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima wrote, “With this bill, more students will successfully transfer and earn bachelor’s degrees in less time.” He added the measure is expected to save the state about $160 million a year and allow the community colleges to serve 40,000 more students a year and the CSU 13,000 more students a year.

According to the bill analysis from the California State Senate website, SB 1440 requires a California Community College district to grant an associate degree that deems the student eligible for transfer into the California State University system. The bill will also require CSUs to guarantee admission to transfer students who meet the requirements and will not allow community colleges to have their own requirements for students who want to transfer. Essentially, community colleges will not be able to require students to take classes for their AA degree that don’t transfer.

Even though the bill suggests the new transfer program be implemented by both the CSU and UC systems, since UCs are not state agencies, they can opt-out, unlike the CSU system.

The bill will simplify the complex procedures students have to follow to transfer while reducing costs.

Michele Siqueiros, executive director of the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity, which sponsored the bill, called its signing “a major victory for our students, who are working so hard to succeed in college.”

SRJC holds transfer workshops all semester long, with the next one on at 5 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Bertolini Center. Visit SRJC’s Transfer Center in Bussman Hall for any questions about transferring or the new bill.