|
SIGN THE PLEDGE!
Historic Transfer Package Moves Forward; AB 2302 Passes Senate Unanimously
 (August 25, 2010) Our historic transfer reform bills continued to move forward this week. Today, the Senate unanimously approved AB 2302. Earlier this week, the Assembly unanimously approved SB 1440. Both bills will now go back to their respective houses for a concurrence vote, and then it's on to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
We're almost there -- thank you all for your support and for helping to make history!
'I'm One in a Million' Contest Winners Announced
 The winners of the "I'm One in a Million" college scholarship contest have been selected. Thank you to everyone who entered and who voted to help select our Grand Prize Winner. We have been proud to sponsor the scholarship contest and are grateful to the College Access Foundation and the Vons Foundation, who provided funding for the contest. The "I'm One in a Million" contest is part of our "One Million More College Graduates by 2025" campaign.
'One Million More College Graduates by 2025' SoCal Campaign Kicks Off at Cal State Northridge
(August 3, 2010) California State University, Northridge, provided a beautiful setting on a gorgeous late-summer day, as The Campaign kicked off its “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” campaign last Friday, July 30. Dr. Vance T. Peterson, Vice President for University Advancement at CSUN, opened the event by welcoming the crowd and congratulating award recipients, calling them "true champions of college opportunity.”
Nearly 350 Campaign supporters, student winners and their families attended the event at CSUN’s Orange Grove Bistro at the University Club that saw the presentation of a ceremonial check of $5.3 billion to the state to document the return on investment that California can receive by producing one million more college graduates by 2025, awarding of scholarships to winners of the “Save Me a Spot in College” contest and the presentation of “Champions of College Opportunity” awards to state Senator Alex Padilla, the California State Student Association (CSSA), and the Vons Foundation.
“We want to send a strong message to our next governor that higher education is what fuels our economy and makes our workforce strong,” said Michele Siqueiros, Executive Director of The Campaign.
 She asked participants to sign their 1MM campaign pledge urging the next Governor to make higher education a priority. The 1MM theme was prominent throughout the event, as students sitting in the audience were later asked to wave $1 million bills, symbolic of the $1 million they will earn in excess over their lifetime if they graduate from college over their peers who graduate only from high school.
“How many more students do we want to graduate from college?” she asked the audience as they waved the $1 million bills. “One million!” the audience replied.
Siqueiros also presented the Champions for College Opportunity awards, beginning with Sen. Padilla, whom she described as always fighting for college opportunity wherever he serves—from city council to the state senate.
 Sen. Padilla told the students in the audience that “the nation's future is counting on you,” saying that he had recently read that 40 percent of today's national workforce is currently eligible for reitrement.
“That means a lot of people will soon be retiring,” he said. “You need to be prepared to take those jobs.”
Siqueros then presented a Champion for College Opportunity to the California State Student Association (CSSA) for “increasing student voice and action in the state.” Miles Nevin, Executive Director, and Christopher Chavez, President, of the CSSA accepted the award, saying they were pleased to see the efforts of students from across the state being recognized.
 Another highlight of the day was the awarding of $150,000 in scholarships to over 300 middle and high school students from throughout the state who were selected as winners of this year’s Save Me a Spot in College scholarship contest, the fifth and final year.
 During the past five years, more than 53,000 students have made their voices heard by participating in the scholarship contest, which provides students from throughout California the opportunity to create written word, posters, and TV ads calling on state leaders to save them and their peers a spot in college. The scholarship contest was supported by major funding from the College Access Foundation of California.
“I would like to extend a special thanks to the College Access Foundation for sponsoring Save Me a Spot in College,” Siqueiros said. “They’ve made it possible for us to award $650,000 over the past five years to ‘Save Me a Spot in College’ winners.”
L.A. Times Endorses Our Transfer Legislation:
'Legislation would direct both the community college and CSU systems to establish a streamlined process by which students have a clear path to a bachelor's degree.'
(August 2, 2010) The Los Angeles Times today endorsed SB 1440 and AB 2302 as ways to create a smooth path to a bachelor's degree. Read the full editorial.
SB 1440 goes before the Assembly Committee on Appropriations this Wednesday, August 4, and AB 2302 will go before Senate Appropriations later this month. Please call Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes' office today or tomorrow at 916-319-2039 and let him know that you also support our legislation.
1MM Kicks Off With Great Sacramento Event; SoCal Event This Friday at CSUN
(July 28, 2010) The Campaign kicked off its “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” campaign with a fantastic event at the state Capitol last Wednesday, July 21.
 Over 300 supporters and student winners joined us as we presented a ceremonial check for $5.3 billion to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell on behalf of the state of California to demonstrate the return on investment the state would receive for producing one million additional college graduates.
“We need to send a strong message to the next Governor,” said Michele Siqueiros, executive director of The Campaign, “that in order to improve our economy and create jobs we will need to invest in college opportunity and increase college graduation rates.”
 She then asked participants to sign their “One Million More College Graduates by 2025” (1MM) campaign pledge urging the next Governor to make higher education a priority. The 1MM theme was prominent throughout the event, as students sitting in the audience were later asked to wave $1 million bills, symbolic of the $1 million they will earn in excess over their lifetime if they graduate from college over their peers who graduate only from high school.
A highlight of the day was the awarding of $150,000 in scholarships to over 300 middle and high school students from throughout the state who were selected as winners of this year’s Save Me a Spot in College scholarship contest, the fifith and final year. During the past five years, more than 53,000 students have made their voices heard by participating in the scholarship contest. Because Save Me a Spot in College has been supported by major funding from the College Access Foundation, Jay Sherwin, Vice President for Programs for the foundation, participated in the ceremony by handing out certificates and congratulating student winners.
Several Champions for College Opportunity were also honored at the event, including Assemblymembers Paul Fong, Connie Conway, and Jim Beall; Reid Milburn, student senate for California Community Colleges; the College Access Foundation of California; the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy; and the Public Policy Institute of California. All expressed support for the mission of The Campaign, with many saying that their efforts at improving higher education in the state were furthered by our work.
The Campaign is hosting a Southern California One Million More Reception this Friday, July 30, at California State University, Northridge. Please RSVP here. If you would like more information about this event, please contact Stephanie Romero-Crockett at 213-817-6034. Read Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Letter of Welcome to the event.
New campaign focusing on producing one million more college graduates in Calif. by 2025 up and running
(June 24, 2010) The Campaign has launched a new campaign, One Million More College Graduates by 2025 (1MM), to alert Californians about the need to produce one million additional college graduates by 2025 in order to keep our economy strong and preserve our quality of life.
Components of the campaign include a pledge urging the state's next Governor to put forward a specific plan that will prioritize and invest in higher education in order to keep our economy strong and produce jobs that meet our workforce needs, a new Facebook page, and our 'I'm One in a Million' college scholarship contest.
Please join Judy Patrick, Allan Zaremberg, Constance Rice, David Valladolid, James Doti, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other fellow Californians in signing the pledge. Click here to see the full list.
And tell your friends about the campaign. Thanks!
In an otherwise bleak year for education, the Legislature and the Governor have an opportunity to join us in making history by improving the transfer pathway for community colleges to a four-year university. Either one of these two bills will provide for a smoother transfer pathway for California’s students, while at the same time saving the state millions of dollars and freeing up capacity to serve more students.
SB 1440 (Padilla) - Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR) Act
The Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR) Act by Senator Alex Padilla (D-20) with Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-22) as principal co-author, would provide community college students with a clearer pathway to transfer, an Associate Degree in recognition of their work, guaranteed admission to the California State University (CSU) system, and junior status upon enrolling in the CSU. We are thrilled to be working closely on this legislation with the chancellors for both the California Community College (CCC) and CSU systems, the California Community College Student Senate, and the California State Student Association. SB 1440 has successfully passed both the Senate, the Assembly Higher Education Committee, the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, and the full Assembly. It will next go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote.
View the SB 1440 summary
See a list of bill supporters
AB 2302 (Fong) - Statewide Transfer Pathway
The current transfer process is complex and confusing, resulting in student frustration and contributing to the state's low transfer rates. Improving community college transfer will be key to creating student success to meet future workforce demands. AB 2302 complements SB 1440 and helps facilitate the successful implementation of transparent transfer pathways that will improve the efficiency of the transfer process and the state’s future economic prosperity. The bill calls for the University of California (UC) to develop a transfer pathway for students holding transfer associate degrees, requires the CSU and CCC to notify students of the new transfer pathway created in SB 1440, and ensures that implementation of historic transfer reform is effective, transparent, and student-centered. AB 2302 has cleared the Assembly, the Senate Education Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the full Senate. It will next go back to the full Assembly for a concurrence vote.
View AB 2302 summary
See a list of bill supporters
AB 2542 (Conway) - Accelerating Student Success College
Accelerating Student Success College was designed as a pilot program that would authorize five community colleges to receive funding based on course completion in exchange for flexibility on a handful of state rules and regulations. We believe that a new funding formula, alongside local flexibility, would help strengthen the focus and support for student success. We recognize that fundamentally changing the way that community colleges receive their funding is controversial, but we provided the safeguards that would ensure that participating colleges would not suffer a decrease in resources.
We were fortunate to find a champion in Assemblywoman Connie Conway to help move this bill forward. AB 2542 fell one vote shy of passage last week from the Assembly Higher Education Committee amidst strong opposition from the California Teachers Association, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, and the California Federation of Teachers. We are proud of the supporters who joined us in advocating for the bill’s passage, including Californians for Justice, College Summit, The Institute for College Access and Success, and the California Business Roundtable, among others. We believe the discourse it has created will continue to build momentum toward focusing our budget priorities on improving student outcomes. We look forward to working closely with all interested and affected leaders to discuss promising ways to support our colleges while promoting student success. We are also encouraged by the Senate Education Committee passage of Senator Liu’s bill SB 1143 – which proposes a new funding model for CCC that is a mix of enrollment and course completion – and will be following that effort closely.
Although AB 2542 did not pass the Assembly Higher Education Committee earlier this year, we remain committed to finding solutions to reform the policies and funding formula for California Community Colleges to ensure the appropriate focus on student success and improving college completion.
These policies represent major steps toward helping the state meet the goal of producing one million additional college graduates by 2025. We are truly grateful for your letters of support, your encouragement, and your willingness to take time away from your busy schedules to accompany us to hearings and legislative meetings. Most of all, we thank you for partnering with us as we continue to put the interest of our students and the future of California first.
Read more about the bills in our Solutions page and in our March Newsletter. Visit our Endorsers page for a list of supporters and our Press Room for media coverage of the bills.
|
