While the transfer rate from De Anza to four-year institutions ought to be commended, with success rates of at least 70 percent last year, we can increase that proportion by adhering to recent efforts to streamline the transfer process between California community colleges and the CSU system.

Inconsistent articulation agreements and duplicative coursework requirements have served as barriers for community college students.

The stymied process gave way to historic transfer pathway reform in 2010 , SB-1440, which helps “California produce more college graduates and keeps the state competitive and innovative,” according to the Campaign for College Opportunity.

The streamlined pathway identifies new associate degrees for transfer in common majors and areas of emphasis, for example, humanities and social sciences.

Referred to as the Transfer Model Curriculum, should become available for community colleges to use for associate degrees for transfer with guaranteed admission to the CSU system.

“SB-1440 is an innovative way to offer a state-standard for transfer agreement,” said Emily Kinner, external affairs senator for the student senate for California community colleges. “I would like SB-1440 to be an additional pathway, not a replacement for our local or regional transfer agreements.”

Community college students may take too many units unrelated to a specific major, resulting in excess units and diminishing the chances of graduating with a degree.

However, establishing transfer degrees in areas of high concentrated majors, of which the political science department recently did, will assure students graduate more quickly, “allowing community colleges and the CSU to serve more students.”

I encourage De Anza students to ask professors if there is an associate’s degree for transfer in their departmental major, or if they are currently developing one with the college — and if not, why?