California community college students now have a faster route to a four-year degree, thanks to two new state laws enacted this fall.

In October, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 705, allowing more students access to college-level courses instead of remedial courses when they start community college, and AB 19, giving all first-time students in the state a free year of community college. AB 19, authored by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D–Los Angeles), expands to the entire state programs already in place in Los Angeles and Long Beach called College Promise.

Starting next fall, all students can register for two or more college courses at no cost for the first year at any of the 114 community colleges in the state. The state still has to find the money in the budget, though, before it can be offered next year.

“I wrote the bill because I attended a community college with a dream of having a good education, and that opportunity changed my life,” Santiago told Univision.

Read the full article by Esmeralda Romero about California community colleges from The 74