Postsecondary education: common course numbering system.

Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of California's public and private segments of higher education and their respective institutions of higher education. The act requires, not later than June 1, 2006, the California Community Colleges and the California State University to adopt, and authorizes the University of California and private postsecondary institutions to adopt, a common course numbering system for the 20 highest-demand majors in the respective segments. The act requires, not later than June 30, 2006, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and the Trustees of the California State University to report to the Legislature, and requests the Regents of the University of California to report to the Legislature, on the status of the activities of their respective segments related to that numbering system and on the plans to implement a common course numbering system for the majors that are not the 20 highest demand majors. The act also requires each campus of a public postsecondary educational institution to incorporate the common course numbering system in its catalog at the next adoption of a campus catalog after June 1, 2006. This bill would require the California Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2024, to adopt a common course numbering system for all general education requirement courses and transfer pathway courses, and require each community college campus, on or before July 1, 2024, to incorporate common course numbers from the adopted system into its course catalog. The bill would require the common course numbering system to be student facing and ensure that comparable courses across all community colleges have the same course number. By requiring community college campuses to incorporate common course numbers in their catalogs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.