WHEREAS, Students who begin their academic careers at California community colleges often transfer to four-year institutions and continue into graduate and professional education pathways, yet their outcomes become statistically fragmented or lost once they leave the community college system, making it difficult to track their persistence, performance, and success in higher education and on graduate admissions examinations such as the MCAT and LSAT, and limiting the ability to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of community colleges and independent institutions as a whole [1];
WHEREAS, Standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT have been reinstated by more colleges across the nation such a swift change bars students from community colleges from both preparing for the test in time and submitting scores to colleges; furthermore, fee waivers are only given to low-income 11th and 12th graders, not community college students;
WHEREAS, Standardized testing pipelines nationwide make it clear that there is a significant gap at every transition point between the readiness of community college students and students from 4-year institutions, such disparity is evident not only in the exam pass rate, such as the MCAT, but also in the number of students who take the exam [3]; and
WHEREAS, A systematic statewide study of California community colleges demonstrates significant differences in college readiness and rates of progression and completion, with completion rates varying by region and with some regions showing as much as a 15-point difference in transfer and degree attainment outcomes, that are associated with socioeconomic differences among communities and inconsistent practices among colleges that fail to support the CCC system in realizing its Vision 2030 agenda for equity [4]; Now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocate for additional funding to expand bridge programs, academic supports, and guided pathways in lower-readiness and completion regions to more evenly distribute opportunity across the CCC system and to align these programs with demand for the specific tests, with emphasis on MCAT, LSAT, and NCLEX-RN;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocate for expanded California community college fee waivers or other financial assistance for standardized and professional entry exams (ie. transfer, graduate, and other professional entry exams) as a strategy to reduce financial barriers for community college students pursuing further higher education;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges urge the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to explore and support the creation of longitudinal data-sharing partnerships or reporting mechanisms that allow for continued tracking of community college transfer students’ academic and professional outcomes after transfer, in order to strengthen institutional effectiveness research, inform policy decisions, and improve support for future transfer students; and
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges seek transparency with publicly available reports on placement, persistence, and transfer rates disaggregated by region and demographic to ensure accountability toward Vision 2030 Goals.
Sources:
[1] Kirst, M. W., & Venezia, A. Betraying the College Dream; Stanford University Bridge Project
[2] Stanford Graduate School of Business. “Bad Preparation Puts Community College Students at Risk” (2005)
[3] Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). MCAT Participation and Matriculation Data
[4] California Policy Lab. Regional Variation in Community College Student Outcomes in California (2024)