How CourseLeaf is Helping California Community Colleges with AB1111 Compliance
In an ambitious move to simplify the transfer process for California’s nearly 2 million community college students, Assembly Bill 1111 (AB 1111) was signed into law in 2021. This legislation mandates the development and adoption of a common course numbering system across all 116 California Community Colleges, a change that could significantly improve student mobility, reduce credit loss, and accelerate degree completion.
Understanding AB 1111: The Common Course Numbering System
At its core, AB 1111 aims to standardize course numbers for general education and transfer-level courses that are substantially similar across different community colleges. Today, two colleges may offer an identical course - for example, “Introduction to Psychology” - but with entirely different course numbers and codes. This inconsistency has historically caused confusion for students trying to transfer credits between institutions.
Once in place, AB1111 should make it easier for students to identify transferable courses, ensuring that the classes they complete at one college align seamlessly with offerings at another.
Why AB 1111 Matters: Benefits for Students and Colleges
1. Streamlined Transfer Pathways
With standardized course numbers, students will benefit from clearer, more transparent credit transfer processes between institutions. This removes a major barrier to on-time graduation and degree completion.
2. Improved Equity and Access
AB 1111 addresses long-standing equity gaps by simplifying the system for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students who often struggle the most with credit confusion and transfer friction.
3. Institutional Transformation
While student-focused, AB 1111 demands significant behind-the-scenes change at the college level—including updates to course catalogs, student information systems, advising platforms, and governance structures.
How CourseLeaf Can Help California Community Colleges Achieve AB 1111 Compliance
For colleges looking to streamline the AB 1111 implementation, CourseLeaf offers an academic operations platform that integrates with your SIS and is purpose-built for managing complex curricular changes including common course numbering and transfer articulation. CourseLeaf supports community colleges through this transition with -
- An integrated academic operations system that includes curriculum management and catalog publication solutions.
- An Application Programming Interface (API) that allows a school to update once and publish to the catalog, school website, and other sites that can read the API with little effort.
- A reporting engine that assists in ensuring courses and programs meet and exceed students’ needs and expectations.
When AB 1111 Is a Challenge to Implement, CourseLeaf Can Go Further
AB 1111 can be a challenging initiative to implement. CourseLeaf offers years of experience in streamlining the complex. CourseLeaf’s talented staff can assist a school in:
- Updating data entry forms to gather the new common course numbers and the required wording for: Course Descriptions, Course Content, Course Objectives, Methods of Evaluation, and Representative Texts, Manuals, and/or OER that is equivalent, Other Support Materials.
- Build a crosswalk between a school’s unique course number and the new common course number if the School Information System (SIS) has constraints that do not match the AB 1111 course numbering system.
- Ensure the catalog displays all information to meet the AB 1111 requirements.
- Work with individual schools to develop a custom solution when the baseline system is not adequate.
Looking Ahead: Turning Mandate into Opportunity
AB 1111 presents a clear challenge, but also a unique opportunity for California Community Colleges to build a more student-friendly, unified academic structure. With support from platforms like CourseLeaf, institutions can not only meet the deadlines, but also:
- Future-proof their academic operations
- Strengthen cross-campus consistency
- Deliver better outcomes for today’s students
Ready to simplify AB 1111 compliance?
Learn how CourseLeaf can support your college in aligning curriculum, updating catalogs, and managing course data across systems.
Schedule a meeting or demonstration with the CourseLeaf Team