SEA Plans

Student Equity and Achievement Plans
in the Community Colleges System

The California Community College (CCC) system is the largest higher education system in the state, serving over 1.9 million students across 116 campuses. Approximately 64% of CCC students are economically disadvantaged, as determined by the Perkins Economically Disadvantaged Metric.

Established in 2018, the Student Equity and Achievement (SEA) Program is tasked with boosting achievement for all students and eliminating achievement gaps for students from traditionally underrepresented groups. Approximately $450 million dollars are annually provided to CCC districts through the SEA program. The districts allocate this funding to schools to do the following:

• Implement activities and practices in line with the CCC Guided Pathways Grant.
• Ensure students complete their educational goals and a defined course of study.
• Provide quality curriculum, instruction, and support services to students who enter college deficient in English and math.

Student equity plans determine how millions of dollars are spent at CCCs each year. It is critical that stakeholders, particularly students, are engaged in the development of these plans to ensure that funds are used effectively and to best target student needs. A preliminary analysis, conducted by Public Advocates, that examined student equity plans submitted to the Chancellor’s Office in 2023, found inconsistent engagement of stakeholders, especially students and student groups. Furthermore, many districts didn’t include any information on their stakeholder outreach. While CCC districts are required to engage stakeholders in the plan making process, they are not required to report exactly how stakeholders were engaged.

Public Advocates sponsored AB 2403 (Bonta) to require a student equity plan to also include a description of the active involvement of all groups on campus in developing the student equity plan for each community college in the community college district.