CCCApply Memo

Issues and opportunities in the statewide college application

(2020)

In addition to operationally standing up the new college, Calbright was asked to contribute findings of value back to the other colleges in the California Community Colleges system. Towards this end, I led an effort to document and share our experiences with CCCApply and OpenCCC, the centralized college application system used by every college in the system.

The memo highlights the key issues that affect prospective students and the colleges using these systems, and makes concrete, actionable recommendations for changes that directly address each one. It was published in October 2020 as an Interested Parties Memo: CCCApply and OpenCCC Issues and Opportunities (PDF).

While all colleges in the system share the benefits of a common application infrastructure, all colleges also share its limitations. The memo focuses on six key issues with CCCApply and OpenCCC that affect prospective students and the colleges that serve them.

What the memo argues

CCCApply serves as a "gateway to the California Community Colleges," and its existence eliminates the need for each college or district to independently procure and customize (or build and maintain) its own application system; its annual improvements benefit colleges system-wide. The recommendations in the memo are intended to result in (a.) a more streamlined, cohesive experience for incoming students system-wide, and (b.) an enhanced ability for colleges to remotely support all of their prospective students more equitably through the entire application process.

Publication

Bader-Natal, A. CCCApply and OpenCCC Issues and Opportunities. [Memorandum] (2020, October)
Abstract PDF

We appreciate the many benefits of all colleges in the California Community Colleges being able to share a common infrastructure for the student-facing college application process. CCCApply serves as a "gateway to the California Community Colleges," and its existence eliminates the need for each college or district to independently procure and customize (or build and maintain) its own application system, and its annual improvements benefit colleges system-wide. But while all colleges in the system share the benefits of this common infrastructure, all colleges also share the limitations of this infrastructure. We focus on six key issues with CCCApply and OpenCCC today that affect prospective students and the colleges that serve them. We believe these recommendations will result in (a.) a more streamlined, cohesive experience for incoming students system-wide, and (b.) an enhanced ability for colleges to remotely support all of their prospective students more equitably through the entire application process.