Improving LBCC Student Success Rates

40% of students take approximately six years to finish their studies at LBCC and only 15% complete in two years. These low graduation and certificate completion rates deny students the opportunity to obtain good paying jobs and contributes to increased student debt.

Plan: Increase student support services, including child care options, and tutoring. Begin re-evaluating remedial education classes and increase core class offerings.

Innovative Dual Degree Program

By providing high school students the opportunity to pursue a high school diploma and their AA degree simultaneously, we will allow students to get a headstart to pursue more education or a career in the trades. This program will lower student loan debt, accelerate graduation rates, grow enrollment, and advance students into the middle class quicker.

Plan: Start a new dual degree program for high school students to earn both their high school diplomas and AA degree at the same time. Students can go on two tracks— university and a vocational/career technical education.

Universal Bus Pass for LBCC Students

Reliable and affordable transportation is necessary for community college student success. We need to expand mobility to help students get to campus, improve access to jobs and internships, reduce the number of cars on campus, and protect the environment by reducing air pollution.

Plan: Create a Universal or U-Pass public transit bus pass for all full-time students to take Long Beach Transit buses and Metro trains at no cost.

Require Digital or Low-Cost Textbooks

The price of textbooks is one of the largest and fastest growing costs for students today.

Plan: Change the district policy to require for free or low-cost books either in print or digital versions for students to reduce student debt.

Create a Long Beach Trade Tech Campus

The focus on the full spectrum of career technical education and career pathways to middle-class jobs will expand enrollment and bring economic opportunities to students and their families.

Plan: Establish a joint campus with LBCC and LBUSD focused on creating a regional construction and vocation job training center. Introduce new vocational programs that meet the needs of the 21st-century economy, including an interdisciplinary apprenticeship program in the Cannabis Industry, focused on manufacturing, entrepreneurship, compliance, and safety can help place students into high paying technical career pathways.

Increased Campus Safety to Prevent Gun Violence

Recent school shootings at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and Parkland have demonstrated the need for sensible gun violence prevention activities and increased mental health services to protect our students and our community. We must do more to protect our students and their families from gun violence on campus.

Plan: Work to make LBCC a gun free zone and provide training on active shooter drills. Review campus security policies and procedures and align them with the nationally recognized, Clery Center, which trains higher education professionals on violence prevention strategies and enhance campus safety regulations. Create a Wellness Center Taskforce, a one-stop-shop to provide mental health resources and referrals for students dealing with depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues on campus.

Leadership in Sustainability and Green Jobs

Long Beach City has a responsibility to take a leadership role in Sustainability, Clean Energy and Green Jobs.

Plan: Require a sustainable master plan by joining the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), hire a Chief Sustainability Officer to lead on campus clean energy programs, expand Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations, prioritize green parking spaces, expand green job opportunities, and triple the amount of solar panels on both campuses.