A new law, California Assembly Bill 705, is driving dramatic changes in how California Community Colleges place students into English and math courses. Beginning in Fall 2019, AB 705 requires the colleges to use students’ high school grades as the primary means of placement; restricts colleges from denying students access to transferable, college-level courses; and gives students the right to begin in courses where they have the best chance of completing the English and math requirements for a bachelor’s degree.

This report—a collaboration of the Campaign for College Opportunity and the California Acceleration Project—analyzes early AB 705 implementation efforts at 47 community colleges in the Central Valley, the Inland Empire, and greater Los Angeles. We examine fall course schedules and websites to identify bright spots and problems in implementation, with particular focus on the extent to which college course offerings are aligned with the AB 705 standard of “maximizing” student completion of transfer-level math and English courses.