Bill to Increase Student Success at Community Colleges Passes Assembly

The ssembly unanimously passed AB 1705, new legislation from Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (AD-44) that will address remedial placement policies at California’s community colleges and help more students to achieve their educational goals.

“Pasadena City College has offered no below-transfer courses since 2019,” said Carrie Starbird, Dean of Math at Pasadena College. “For the most part, making these changes meant reallocating existing funds. We shifted the classes we were offering from remedial to transfer-level sections. We also reframed our thinking about what students could achieve with the right support. The results speak for themselves.”

AB 1705 is supported by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, Students Making a Change, the UC Student Association, and a diverse coalition of higher education equity, research, civil rights, social justice, and student leadership organizations.

In the last month, momentum has continued to build for the legislation, with new organizations offering their support for the bill including Complete College America, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, Improve your Tomorrow, Promesa Boyle Heights, Southern California Access Network, the USC Race & Equity Center, and Young Invincibles.

“AB 1705 is an opportunity to address placement practices that have historically excluded thousands of students of color,” said Adrián Trinidad, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Community College Partnerships, USC Race and Equity Center. “To make our community colleges racially just, we need to upend a status quo that frames students of color as deficient and incapable of success. We support this bill because it will help transform out-of-date approaches that resulted in educational segregation at our community colleges.”

Before AB 705, just 32% of Pasadena City students would complete transfer-level math in a year. In the first year of implementing the law, completion nearly doubled, with 59% of students completing transfer-level math. This is higher than the statewide average of 50%.

Advocates for the bill also call attention to the cost of remedial classes to students. According to a recent report from The Institute for College Access & Success, “remedial coursework was associated with additional enrollment fees ranging from $410 to $1,390 per student, on average … When including all costs associated with college, including food and housing, students with any remedial coursework history can face more than $20,000 in additional college costs.”

“Remedial classes cost students time and money and don’t move them closer to their goals,” said Jasmine Prasad, Vice President of Legislative Affairs of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. “AB 1705 will help more students achieve their educational and career goals without being delayed or derailed by remedial courses. The Student Senate for California Community Colleges — which is the official voice of 1.8 million students  — strongly supports this bill.”