June 25, 2023
The Honorable Josh Newman
Chair, Senate Education Committee
1021 O Street, Suite 6740
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 1749 (McCarty), as amended on May 18, 2023, and scheduled for hearing in the Senate Education Committee on June 28, 2023. Position: OPPOSE
Dear Chair Newman,
The Council of UC Faculty Associations respectfully opposes Assembly Bill 1749 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty. In its current form, the bill would require UC to give undergraduate admission priority to students who complete an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) with a 3.0 GPA.
ADTs were designed to coordinate with California State University degree programs, not University of California degree programs. UC Transfer Pathways are designed to coordinate with UC programs, and so, by design, are a better fit. Students can graduate from UC in two years following a UC Transfer Pathway. Many students transferring to UC via the ADT will not graduate after two years at UC but will require a third year. Lengthening the time to graduate puts an enormous burden on the student and the student’s family while reducing UC’s capacity to enroll other California undergraduate students.
Paradoxically, requiring UC to select ADT earners preferentially will disadvantage California Community College students who are better prepared because they followed UC Transfer Pathways.
Also, the proposed ADT admission guarantee uses only GPA and a list of required courses. Aside from the above-described mismatch in the list of required courses, the heavy emphasis on GPA, which research shows correlates primarily with family income, means this proposal will likely reduce the diversity of UC’s transfer cohort and total student body.
If the legislature is unsatisfied with the speed of adoption of UC Transfer Pathways, it should press for greater use of UC Transfer Pathways rather than employing the mismatched tool of the ADT. Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Constance Penley
President, The Council of UC Faculty Associations
Professor, Film and Media Studies, UCSB