Associate Degree for Transfer

History of SB 1440 and the ADT

If you want to know more about the ADT partnership between the California Community College system and the CSUs, read about the history of the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act (SB 1440 – Padilla) below.

About SB 1440

SB 1440, signed into legislation on September 29, 2010, enables the California Community Colleges and California State University to collaborate on the creation of Associate in Arts Degree (AA) and Associate in Science (AS) Degree transfer programs.

This law requires community colleges to grant an Associate Degree for Transfer to a student once a student has met specified general education and major requirements for the degree.

Upon completion of the associate degree, the student is eligible for transfer with junior standing into the California State University (CSU) system. Students are promised guaranteed admission into the California State University (CSU) system, and further are given priority consideration when applying to a particular program that is similar to the student’s community college major.

The law prohibits the CSU from requiring a transferring ADT student to repeat courses similar to those taken at the community college when such courses counted toward the Associate Degree for Transfer. 

Community college students were able to declare an interest in pursuing specific transfer AA/AS degrees beginning with the Fall 2011-12 academic year.