College/Career Indicator FAQs

The following two flyers identifies the Prepared and Approaching Prepared criteria that have been approved by the State Board of Education:

• Career Readiness Flyer (PDF)
• College Readiness Flyer (PDF)

The following measures have been approved by the State Board of Education for inclusion into the CCI:

1. Advanced Placement
2. Met UC/CSU requirements
3. Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway Completion
4. College Credit Course
5. International Baccalaureate
6. Leadership/Military Science
7. Registered Pre-Apprenticeships
8. Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy and mathematics (Grade 11)
9. State and Federal Job Programs
10. State Seal of Biliteracy
11. Transition Classroom and Work-Based Learning Experiences

Only once. A student can be prepared through multiple measures, but they are only counted once in the CCI.

All measures on the CCI are weighted equally. Preparing a student in one measure has the same impact on the CCI as preparing students in any other measure.

Yes. Students must receive college credit, pass the course with a grade of C minus or better (or Pass), and complete a minimum number of semesters, quarters, or trimesters of college coursework to be counted in the CCI.

Local educational agencies are encouraged to review their California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) data to ensure that the data are submitted or are submitted accurately. For example, at times, we find that college courses are either not submitted in the End-of-Year data collections, or they have been submitted as non-college credit course codes. Additionally, we have found final course grades submitted as numerical values (rather than a letter grade). Any of these errors will result in CDE being unable to provide any credit to schools/LEAs.

No. The intent is that students must complete two separate activities in order to be Prepared. For example, completing a CTE pathway in agriculture and a college course in astronomy would be considered Prepared. However, a CTE pathway in agriculture with the CTE capstone course in agriculture that is also college credit would not be considered Prepared.

No.The intent is that students must complete two separate activities in order to be Prepared. For example, completing a CTE pathway in agriculture and a college course in astronomy would be considered Prepared. However, a CTE pathway in agriculture with the CTE capstone course in agriculture that is also college credit would not be considered Prepared.

A pupil who has not attained English language proficiency within 7 years of initial classification as an English learner (EL) is a long-term English learner. For more information refer to the LTEL website here: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/lteldef.asp

For the CCI, students who have been an EL for 7+ years during the last four or five years in high school will be considered an LTEL.

Yes. A student that meets the LTEL criteria any time during the cohort period is counted as LTEL in the cohort.

There are two resources that identifies what data are used to calculate the measures in the CCI:

1. Dashboard Technical Guide for the CCI, and
2. Connecting California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to the Dashboard Handbook

Both documents can be accessed through the College/Career Indicator web page.

Yes. The Connecting CALPADS to the Dashboard Handbook identifies specific CALPADS reports you can review to confirm if your data is accurate prior to the close of the CALPADS certification window.

No. The California Department of Education extracts certified data from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) End-of-Year (EOY) submission. Any data revisions that are made in CALPADS after the submission deadline cannot be incorporated into the Dashboard (or DataQuest).

Starting with 2027 Dashboard, the 9227: College Credit Course – Other state course code will no longer be included in the list of college credit courses used in the CCI. The 2025 and 2026 Dashboard will still include 9227: College Credit Course – Other on the CCI.

No, a student must complete one AP course with a grade of C− or better and receive a score of 3 or higher on an AP exam. The qualifying AP course and qualifying AP exam topics cannot match.

Yes, a student that meets all the requirements for admissions to a UC or CSU and passes an AP course with a grade of C- or better will be considered prepared.

Due to the U.S. Department of Education’s denial of California’s waiver to continue using modified methods for accountability, the combined four-and five-year graduation rate that is calculated for the Graduation Rate Indicator is used as the denominator for the CCI for all schools.