Amendment of Title 5
As of March 1st, 2022, the Cal State board voted to remove the option to input standardized testing in their applications along with 1,820 other universities and colleges. The CSU Board oversees 23 separate college campuses including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Pomona, and Humboldt, Sacramento State, and Chico State to name a few. “This decision aligns with the California State University’s continued efforts to level the playing field and provide greater access to a high-quality college degree for students from all backgrounds,” said Acting Chancellor Steve Relyea. Admissions officers will now look more closely into factors such as leadership, extracurriculars, grades, and heritage. The universities first suspended the use of standardized testing in 2020-2021 because of Covid-19. They were afraid that requiring the SAT/ACT would harm prospective students and deter them from applying.
I believe that this was a great decision by the board to eliminate standardized testing. After all, standardized testing is only a small factor in determining whether a student gets admitted or not. There are plenty of other more important factors that can benefit students who apply to set them apart from the other competition.
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Title 5
Senate Bill 333
SB333 is a fairly new bill introduced in California on February 7th, 2023. Although this new bill is still under review, it could establish various programs to provide assistance to homeless youth specifically students. SOAR (State Department of Social Services to establish the California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience) would be in charge of awarding public school homeless students who are in 12th grade, a guaranteed income of $1,000 each month for 5 months from April to August. An existing federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, has already provided grants and other services to homeless students.
This is a tremendous step in the right direction in California so far. Thousands of students suffer from homelessness and other problems that deter them from succeeding in school and life. These bills will provide substantial benefits to the members of this program and will help them get set in the right direction.