In the fall 2017 semester, almost 60 percent of incoming Santa Barbara City College students were placed in remedial math or English courses. Come fall 2019, however, that number will decrease drastically thanks to Assembly Bill 705, which largely prohibits community colleges from requiring students to enroll in remedial classes.
The bill, signed by Governor Jerry Brown in October 2017, is intended to “maximize the probability that the student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics within a one-year timeframe.” It was introduced after evidence showed community colleges were placing too many students in remedial courses, hindering their likelihood of completion or transferring to a four-year college. According to the SBCC Student Success Scorecard, only 42.5 percent of first-time students in 2015-2016 completed a transfer-level course in math in their first two years at the college.
“Students coming in at below-transfer-level courses [for math] have close to a zero percent chance of transferring and receiving a bachelor’s,” said James Campbell, associate professor of mathematics and assessment coordinator at SBCC. “It’s shockingly low.” Campbell is on the school’s transition committee and is working to restructure SBCC’s math department to comply with AB 705.