The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, in partnership with Higher Digital, is advancing the development of a new student-centered application process and supporting system architecture for our prospective and returning students, to:

  • Improve the user experience
  • Reduce the pressure of the application process on students
  • Better support equitable access
  • Increase data accuracy
  • Protect against and mitigate fraud

The new CCCApply application will consider industry best practices while also exploring innovations in technology, user experience, and data collection, given the unique challenges and opportunities that the California Community College system must consider. The goal is for the resulting CCCApply Application to be one that is intuitive, inclusive, and secure, providing a best-in-class first impression to current and future students. The Chancellor’s Office has worked to develop a thorough understanding of the needs, challenges, opportunities, and perspectives of important stakeholders in the system’s application process in the initial phases of this initiative.

Reimagine Apply Progress to Date

As a result of the collective effort by the statewide Reimagine Apply Task Force, the Chancellor’s Office released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a technology vendor and system integrator to operate the newly designed online student application. The RFP documents may be downloaded for reference but the selection process is now complete. 

Input from students and stakeholders helped drive the selection of the technology vendor, Liaison. The RFP process included the RFP Review Committee, the Extended Committee, and an Advisory Committee, which allowed students, faculty, staff and education partners to weigh in on the vendor selection for the new online application system.  

Moving into the Design & Build phase, the following teams engage regularly to keep the project on track, including the Chancellor’s Office, Steering Committee, and Reimagine Apply Implementation Advisory Group. 

Wave 1 Districts

Wave 1 includes 11 districts in different regions, with different campus sizes and campus settings, using various Student Information Systems (SIS), with an anticipated go-live date of summer 2026. Wave 1 districts have individuals from Admissions & Records, Financial Aid, Institutional Research, Student Support Services, and Technical Operations working together to advise during the Design & Build phase.  

Anticipated next steps are that Wave 2 and Wave 3 districts will be recruited in the coming months, and those districts will receive instruction and guidance leading up to and through the launch of the Reimagine Apply initiative across the entire California Community Colleges system.

Reimagine Apply Implementation Advisory Group (RAIAG)

To support the successful implementation and adoption of the new student application system, the Reimagine Apply Implementation Advisory Group (RAIAG) was created and kicked off in September 2025. The Reimagine Apply Steering Committee, which will lead RAIAG, is comprised of representation from the Academic Senate, Admissions & Records, the Board of Governors, CEOs, CISOs, chief instructional officers (CIOs), CSSOs, Financial Aid, the RP Group, the Student Senate, and Wave 1 district leads. The composition of RAIAG consists of functional representation from Admissions & Records, Financial Aid, Institutional Research, Student Services & Support, as well as technology representation (e.g., CISO, IT, programmers, etc.) from participating districts. The RAIAG meets on a weekly basis to prepare for the design, build, and test phases of the implementation.

Updates and Resources

Participatory Engagement to Date

  • Weekly RAIAG meetings initiated in September 2025 for Wave 1 
  • Monthly Task Force meetings from February 2024-January 2025 
  • 224 attendees across 6 Working Sessions from Oct 2023-Jan 2024  
  • 20 student interviews and usability testing on lo-fi prototypes in October 2023 
  • 73 interviewees from 47 districts and 59 colleges related to CCCApply data usage in September 2023 
  • 141 survey respondents related to CCCApply data usage in August 2023 
  • 44 interviewees related to CCCApply current state and feedback in 2022
  • Statewide Working Group sessions in 2022

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    Interested in participating in or learning more about the Reimagine Apply project or RFP process? Submit your questions or provide input.

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