Research cited at Assembly hearing: AB705 greatly increased access and completion but implementation remains uneven

At an Assembly Higher Education Committee oversight hearing, researchers and California Community Colleges officials summarized a decade of evidence showing that AB705 and follow‑on policies greatly increased direct enrollment and successful completion of transfer‑level math and English, while emphasizing that implementation and student supports remain uneven across colleges.

Public Policy Institute of California research fellow Marisol Cuellar Mejia said the reforms dramatically changed placement: "practically all students were able to enroll directly in a transfer level course," and the share of first‑time math students completing transfer‑level math in one term rose from about 30 percent in 2017 to 53 percent in fall 2023. She told the committee the raw count of students completing transfer‑level math in the fall term rose from about 30,000 to about 62,000.

The committee heard parallel findings from the Chancellor's Office and the RP Group. John Hetz, executive vice chancellor for the Chancellor's Office, said prior reliance on placement tests had placed most students into lengthy remedial sequences and that AB705 introduced evidence‑based placement that has increased outcomes across student groups. Hetz summarized systemwide outcomes the Chancellor's Office tracks: "68 percent of students now complete transfer level English in their first year in the discipline, 62 percent in mathematics," and completion of meaningful educational outcomes (certificate or degree) in two years has risen from about 3 percent historically to 9 percent, and to 16 percent in three years, according to his remarks.

RP Group Senior Director Alyssa Nguyen presented college‑level analyses used to assess AB1705 calculus pathways and described a cohort analysis of more than 37,000 students declaring STEM majors. The RP Group reported that, across the statewide sample, two‑year Calculus I throughput rates were higher for students who enrolled directly in Calculus I than for students who began in preparatory courses, even when disaggregated by high school preparation. For example, the RP Group summary cited a roughly 62 percent two‑year Calculus I completion rate for students who directly enrolled despite having completed only geometry or lower in high school, compared with an 18 percent two‑year rate for similar students who first took a preparatory college course, based on the RP Group's operational cohort and definitions.

Panelists and committee members repeatedly framed the reforms as evidence‑driven but acknowledged remaining challenges. Mejia and Hetz both said increased access has not eliminated equity gaps and that students who fail to thrive in the new placements often face non‑academic barriers such as housing instability, work demands, or lower non‑math GPAs. Mejia said those students "tend to have lower GPAs, excluding math, and they earn a lower proportion of the units that they enroll in," and recommended high‑touch, holistic supports in addition to course‑level co‑requisites.

Committee members pressed the Chancellor's Office and researchers on outcome metrics and data collection. Hetz said the office tracks first‑attempt success as well as completion over time and noted that first‑course success rates have remained "remarkably stable" despite large shifts in where students start. He also explained the technical basis the Chancellor's Office used in guidance documents for the term "highly unlikely to succeed," saying the standard was aligned with commonly used probabilistic thresholds and that colleges were given multiple, evidence‑based pathway options while statewide evaluation continues.

Why it matters: AB705 and subsequent implementation funding and guidance are central to the Community College system's strategy to raise transfer and degree completion statewide. The committee heard that state one‑time funding of $64,000,000 supported colleges' implementation of co‑requisite supports and redesign work, and witnesses said continued investment and research will be needed to reduce remaining disparities.

The hearing produced no formal votes; legislators said oversight would continue and that the Legislature will monitor implementation, support needs, and additional research as colleges experiment with multiple approaches to co‑requisite and preparatory offerings.