How AB 705 Reshaped College-Level Placement, Completion, and Academic Progression in California

• In Event: Corequisite Mathematics Reform in Practice: Faculty Roles, Curricular Change, and Student Experience Across States

Abstract

In response to the growing need to improve students' timely progression for college-level coursework, more than 20 states have adopted reforms to their developmental education systems (Whinnery et al., 2025). California’s Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705), enacted in 2018, represents one of the most ambitious of these efforts (Irwin, 2017).
The legislation required colleges to eliminate standardized placement tests and multi-level developmental sequences. Instead, it requires direct placement into transfer-level English and math courses, unless strong evidence indicates a student is unlikely to succeed without developmental education. The policy is grounded in recent research showing how placement systems shape student pathways and outcomes (Scott-Clayton & Rodriguez, 2015; Kane et al., 2019). We therefore conceptualize it as a structural intervention designed to expand access, reduce delays and promote progression.
This study evaluates the causal effects of AB 705 on both short- and long-term student outcomes, including completion in transfer-level gateway courses, persistence, transfer to four-year institutions, and degree attainment. It also examines heterogeneity in outcomes by individual demographic characteristics, as well as by different institutional contexts.
We use de-identified student-level administrative data from all 114 California community colleges from 2015 to 2023. These detailed records include student demographics, course-taking, academic performance, and credentials earned. They are further linked with National Student Clearinghouse data to track transfer and post-transfer degree outcomes beyond the CCC system. Institutional characteristics from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) will also be merged into the datasets to explore variation by colleges.
We employ two complementary quasi-experimental approaches. First, an interrupted time series (ITS) analysis captures shifts in student outcomes before and after AB 705’s enactment across the entire system. Second, a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) design exploits variation in policy adoption timing across colleges, allowing us to compare outcomes between early and late implementers while adjusting for time shocks and fixed institutional characteristics.
Although the analysis is still ongoing, preliminary descriptive evidence shows promising improvements in access and progression. Initial regression-adjusted estimates suggest that completion rates for transfer-level English and math within students’ first year have increased dramatically since AB 705 implementation. Specifically, for English, the average completion rate jumped from 26% to 50%. For math, the completion rate rose from 12% to 33%. For downstream outcomes, more students have attained education goals within two years of entry. The transfer rate doubled from 8% to 16%, the associate degree completion rate increased from 2% to 7%, and certificate attainment rose from under 1% to 4%. These gains were observed across different sub-groups, including those previously considered unprepared (e.g., high school GPA < 1.9). The outcomes point to the effectiveness of the policy,and how removing remedial education requirements accelerate student momentum towards their education goal..
This study contributes rigorous evidence to the evolving nationwide policy conversation about redesigning equitable developmental education at scale. By assessing both the immediate and downstream outcomes of the reform, this study offers critical insights to stakeholders in California and in other states considering similar developmental education reforms through statewide mandates.

Authors

• Loris Fagioli, Irvine Valley College

• XunFei Li, University of California - Irvine

• Di Xu, University of California - Irvine

• Yumeng Zhang, University of California - Irvine