The California Community Colleges are an important resource for the state’s citizens, whether students who recently finished high school or adults aspiring to further their education. The system served nearly 2.76 million students in 2009-10 alone—by far more students than are served by any other state's community college system.

California's community college student population is diverse

In fall 2008, the overall student body of the California Community Colleges was 34% white, 30% Hispanic/Latino, 12% Asian/Pacific Islander, 7% African American, 3% Filipino, and 1% Native American/Alaskan Native. The rest were other ethnicities or unknown. 

Most California high school graduates who go on to public higher education enroll first at a community college. In fall 2008, 61% of first-time freshmen (age 19 or younger) who enrolled in public postsecondary institutions statewide—including 65% of African Americans and 69% of Latinos—did so at a community college.

According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), about 19% of all community college students in fall 2008 were 19 years old or younger and held a high school diploma (but not a college degree), meaning they probably entered community college directly out of high school.

The colleges also serve a great many students who do not fit the "stereotypical" description of a community college student who attends immedately after high school, potentially to transfer to a four-year university. In addition, the majority of community college students in the state attend part-time, meaning that many students need more than two years to complete a degree or transfer.

Many students who receive a bachelor's degree from a public university in California start out at community college. Altogether, 55% of bachelor’s degree graduates from CSU in 2007–08 had transferred from a community college, according to CCCCO. At UC, transfer students made up 29% of all bachelor’s degree graduates.

The colleges are open-access institutions, but expect students to be prepared

The California Community Colleges are open-access institutions, which many consider a core value of the system. For regular admission, California Education Code (section 76000) provides that the colleges shall admit any state resident with a high school diploma or equivalent. State law allows local districts to determine whether they will admit non-residents with a high school diploma or equivalent, or anyone who is at least 18 years old and judged capable of profiting from instruction.

But the colleges' open-access mission does not guarantee that entering students will be placed immediately into college-level courses in mathematics or English. Colleges expect students to be prepared academically if they want to undertake such coursework.

Policies for determining whether students need further academic preparation in reading, writing, and/or mathematics—and how long remediation might take—vary among the California Community Colleges. Currently, the majority of colleges choose from a small number of computerized, commercial placement tests which they use as part of the assessment process. Colleges differ more in how they exempt students from assessment, the placement test cut scores they use to establish readiness for college-level work, and how they consider additional measures and information. They also differ in how they organize remedial course sequences leading to transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics, such as with respect to the number of "levels" of coursework a student might need to successfully complete.

The state currently does not collect student-level data regarding the placement recommendations that students across California receive. However, the system's Basic Skills Accountability Report provides some insight, based on a survey of the colleges, into the extent to which colleges recommend remediation to students. Among students assessed for fall 2007 (credit and noncredit):

• 16% of those assessed in Mathematics were ready for transferable course.
• 28% of those assessed in English (excluding Reading) were ready for transferable courses.
• 38% of those assessed in Reading were ready for transferable courses.
• 8% of those assessed in ESL Reading and ESL Writing were ready to take transferable courses.

Developing policies and practices that enable students to more quickly and successfully complete any needed remediation is a high-profile topic nationally, and in California has been the focus of a statewide Basic Skills Initiative. The latter was a response to California's raising of its statewide course-taking requirements for students to receive an associate degree. All incoming students who hope to receive an associate degree are required to complete Intermediate Algebra (one level below the UC/CSU transferable level) and Freshman Composition (UC/CSU transferable level), or their equivalents.