Postsecondary education: articulation agreements.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide information regarding the cost implications or the consequences if the agreement is not established on time, leaving these points as unknowns.

Postsecondary Education: Articulation Agreements

This law requires colleges and universities in California to establish agreements using common course numbers for easier transfer of credits between institutions by July 1, 2027.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates to establish an agreement by July 1, 2027, using common course numbering templates instead of reviewing each individual course for easier transfer of credits.
• If the committee does not create this agreement by then, it requires administrative bodies of colleges and universities to do so by December 31, 2027.
• Requires that starting from spring term 2027-28, only the streamlined system-level articulation agreement will be used for community college courses with common course numbers.
• Requires each campus to post on their websites a report about the results of this new agreement by June 1 every year.
• Requests universities and colleges to also post contact information for someone in charge of managing course transfers.

Who It Names or Affects

• California Community Colleges
• California State University
• University of California

Terms To Know

articulation agreement

An agreement between educational institutions that helps students transfer credits from one institution to another.

common course numbering system

A standard way of naming courses so they can be easily recognized and accepted by other schools for credit transfer.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the agreement is not established by December 31, 2027.
• It's unclear how much it will cost to implement these changes and who will pay for them.

Official Summary Text

AB 2236, as introduced, Berman.
Postsecondary education: articulation agreements.
Existing law requires the California Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt a common course numbering system for all general education requirement courses and transfer pathway courses, and requires each community college campus, on or before July 1, 2024, to incorporate common course numbers from the adopted system into its course catalog. The Budget Act of 2021 allocated $10,000,000 to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish a workgroup to support the development of that system. That workgroup recommended, among other things, the development of a common course numbering template for each course subject to the requirement described above.
This bill would require the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2027, to establish an agreement for implementing streamlined system-level articulation by utilizing the common course numbering templates, rather than individual course review, as provided. If the intersegmental committee has not established an agreement on or before July 1, 2027, the bill would require the respective administrative bodies of the segments, on or before December 31, 2027, to establish an agreement for implementing streamlined system-level articulation by utilizing the common course numbering templates, rather than individual course review, as provided.
The bill would require, commencing with the spring term of the 2027–28 academic year, the streamlined system-level articulation agreement to be the only articulation agreement used for community college courses subject to the common course numbering system described above.
The bill would require, on or before June 1 of
each year, the respective administrative bodies of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request the University of California, to publicly post on their respective internet websites a report on the results of the streamlined systemwide articulation agreement, as provided. By imposing additional duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request each campus of the University of California, to publicly post, on or before June 1 of each year, the name and contact information of the articulation lead or individual responsible for managing the course articulation process at the campus.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF