David Alvarez (politician)

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills intended to speed construction of affordable student housing and reduce costs for developers amid a persistent shortage at California's public colleges and universities. The centerpiece, Assembly Bill 1732, exempts student housing projects from California Environmental Quality Act review, addressing a major source of delays and litigation. Other new laws streamline mixed-income housing along commercial corridors, add incentives for developers who set aside at least 24% of units for low-income students, extend bond requirements to deter frivolous lawsuits, and speed approvals for mixed-income housing near commercial corridors.

Separately, Assembly Bill 2766 gives unhoused students and former foster youth priority for on-campus housing at community colleges and California State University campuses, while deferring housing fees until financial aid arrives. These laws build on 2025 legislation already advancing projects at UC Santa Barbara, Santa Monica College and San Bernardino Community College District. Backers, including the Student Homes Coalition and California YIMBY, say the measures target a long-overlooked segment of the state's housing crisis. Voters will also weigh Proposition 1 in November, an $11.25 billion housing bond that includes funding for student, tribal and farmworker housing.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills, Senate Bill 960 (Sen. Christopher Cabaldon) and Assembly Bill 2694 (Assemblymember David Alvarez), setting new limits on how many bachelor's degrees California community colleges can create. Starting in 2028, districts can add two to 12 new degrees a year, with higher caps tied to accountability metrics like graduation and transfer rates. Existing degrees are unaffected; currently 49 colleges offer or plan to offer 66 bachelor's programs. Districts must also show regional workforce need.

The laws replace a 2022 rule capping new degrees at 30 statewide and address long-running friction with the California State University system, which often objected to community college programs it saw as duplicative. Colleges can now proceed if a nearby Cal State program rejects more than 25% of applicants from that district for three straight years, and a new dispute-resolution process routes conflicts to the state labor secretary. Community colleges, despite initially backing the bills, opposed last-minute revisions tying degree caps to student outcome metrics. Newsom separately vetoed a third bill that would have allowed community college bachelor's degrees in nursing, calling it redundant.