With over 1.6 million students and 116 colleges, the California Community Colleges network is the largest higher education system in the nation.

Student basic needs are a defining issue of the current and future generations of students across California’s higher education system. AB 132 (2021) established the start of the only state-mandated basic needs centers through the California Community College System. AB 132 required community colleges to establish basic needs centers and hire basic needs coordinators. The legislation also laid out the set of services that basic needs centers must provide directly or through resource material. 

Our new report, Meeting Student Needs, provides insight into the California Community Colleges’ progress of implementing basic needs centers throughout the system. Geographically representative samples of campuses across the state were surveyed prior to and after the legally mandated July 2022 deadline to analyze compliance with the requirements laid out in AB 132 (2021). Findings illustrate gaps in meeting requirements for system-wide open basic needs centers, accessible center locations, and range of services or referral to resources. Recommendations call for increasing state funding to meet growing student needs, for California Community College executives to incorporate students into basic needs planning committees, and for advocates and California Community Colleges to develop a holistic basic needs assessment tool.