AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

96

Introduced by Assembly Member Berman

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Patel)

February 19, 2026

An act to amend Section 66725.5 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: yes

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law requires the California Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt a common course numbering system for all general education requirement courses and transfer pathway courses, and requires each community college campus, on or before July 1, 2027, to incorporate common course numbers from the adopted system into its course catalog. The Budget Act of 2021 allocated $10,000,000 to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to establish a workgroup to support the development of that system. That workgroup recommended, among other things, the development of a common course numbering template for each course subject to the requirement described above.

This bill would require the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2027, to establish an agreement for implementing streamlined system-level articulation by using the common course numbering templates, rather than individual course review, as provided. If the intersegmental committee has not established an agreement on or before July 1, 2027, the bill would require the respective administrative bodies of the segments, on or before December 31, 2027, to establish an agreement for implementing streamlined system-level articulation by using the common course numbering templates, rather than individual course review, as provided.

This bill would require, commencing with the fall term of the 2028–29 academic year, the streamlined system-level articulation agreement to be the only articulation agreement used for community college courses subject to the common course numbering system described above.

This bill would require, on or before June 1 of each year, the respective administrative bodies of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request the University of California, to publicly post on their respective internet websites a report on the results of the streamlined systemwide articulation agreement, as provided.

This bill would require each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request each campus of the University of California, to publicly post, on or before June 1 of each year, the name and contact information of the articulation lead or individual responsible for managing the course articulation process at the campus. By imposing additional duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the administrative bodies of the California State University and the University of California, to identify a limited-term funding plan that would provide funding to the California State University and the University of California to support the intersegmental implementation of the common course numbering system, as provided.

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.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 66725.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:

66725.5.

(a) (1) To streamline transfer from two- to four-year postsecondary educational institutions and reduce excess credit accumulation, on or before July 1, 2027, both of the following shall occur:

(A) The California Community Colleges shall adopt a common course numbering system for all general education requirement courses and transfer pathway courses.

(B) Each community college campus shall incorporate common course numbers from the adopted common course numbering system in its catalog.

(2) The common course numbering system shall be student facing, based on the work of the workgroup established in Item 6870-101-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2021, and ensure that comparable courses across all community colleges have the same course number.

(3) To support the development and implementation of a common course numbering system for the California Community College system, the workgroup established in Item 6870-101-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2021 shall consider starting with courses included in the Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID) and expanding to general education requirements and transfer pathway courses pursuant to subdivision (b).

(b) The common course numbering system may have the same alphabetical identifier and the same numerical identifier for each course that shares the same C-ID course description, pursuant to both of the following:

(1) For all courses included in the C-ID, the California Community Colleges may adopt the alphabetical and numerical identifier of the C-ID course descriptor as the same common course number at all community colleges.

(2) For all general education requirements and transfer pathway courses that are not included in the C-ID, intersegmental discipline faculty through the C-ID process may develop a C-ID course descriptor for each of these community college courses. Once a C-ID course descriptor is developed, the California Community Colleges may adopt the alphabetical and numerical identifier of the C-ID course descriptor as the same common course number at all community colleges.

(c) (1) (A) On or before July 1, 2027, the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges shall establish an agreement for implementing streamlined system-level articulation by using the common course numbering (CCN) templates, rather than individual course review, for determining credit mobility between the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, so all community college courses subject to the common course numbering system adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) articulate the same way across all California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California campuses.

(B) If the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges has not established an agreement pursuant to subparagraph (A) on or before July 1, 2027, the respective administrative bodies of those segments, by December 31, 2027, shall establish an agreement for implementing streamlined system-level articulation by using the CCN templates, rather than individual course review, for determining credit mobility between the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, so all community college courses subject to the common course numbering system adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) articulate the same way across all California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California.

(2) Commencing with the fall term of the 2028–29 academic year, the streamlined system-level articulation agreement established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be the only articulation agreement used for community college courses subject to the common course numbering system adopted pursuant to subdivision (a).

(3) The streamlined system-level articulation agreement established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include student protections to ensure students do not lose credits, do not have any removal of credits, or and do not repeat courses already completed to meet academic requirements with a passing grade.

(4) The streamlined system-level articulation agreement established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not invalidate any systemwide or local articulation approvals granted before July 1, 2028.

(5) The streamlined system-level articulation agreement established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not require the redesign, replacement, or restart of the CCN template development and review process. This paragraph shall not be construed to prevent future updates to CCN templates.

(6) Consistent with national best practices, the streamlined system-level articulation agreement established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall require no more than 70 percent content alignment in order to establish equivalency.

(7) On or before June 1 of each year, the respective administrative bodies of the California Community Colleges and the California State University shall, and the University of California is requested to, publicly post on their respective internet websites a report on all of the following for the previous academic year:

(A) How many CCN templates were submitted for review for articulation.

(B) How many CCN templates were reviewed for articulation.

(C) How many CCN templates were approved or denied for articulation.

(D) The rationale for any denials of CCN templates for articulation, including which standards were not met.

(E) The resubmission timeline for any CCN templates denied articulation, including whether a resubmission for a full review process is required to correct the issues identified in the denial.

(8) (A) The office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the administrative bodies of the California State University and the University of California, shall identify a limited-term funding plan that would provide funding to the California State University and the University of California to support the intersegmental implementation of the common course numbering system required pursuant to this subdivision. The funding plan shall identify limited-term costs supported by a clear justification demonstrating consistency with prior workload and implementation cost estimates.

(B) The funding plan shall identify existing, previously allocated funding from one-time funding sources, including, but not limited to, Section 56 of Chapter 54 of the Statutes of 2022, to support implementation strategies, which may include any of the following:

(i) Faculty and staff workload associated with curriculum alignment, review, and approval processes.

(ii) Intersegmental coordination and governance activities.

(iii) Technology and data system upgrades to support common course numbering alignment and articulation.

(C) The funding identified for purposes of this paragraph shall be reallocated from previously allocated funding for the common course numbering system or related funding, shall not include any new funding from the General Fund, and shall not be considered a new appropriation under Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

(9) For purposes of this subdivision, “common course numbering template” means a template developed pursuant to the systemwide implementation plan recommended by the workgroup established in Item 6870-101-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2021.

(d) On or before June 1 of each year, each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, publicly post, in a clearly visible and easily accessible manner, on the ASSIST.org internet website, or its successor, the name and contact information of the articulation lead or individual responsible for managing the course articulation process at the campus.

SEC. 2.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.