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California’s legislative and higher education leaders on Wednesday committed to increase the number of students who can transfer from the state’s community colleges to universities this year.

Thousands of college students each year aim to make that leap to enter the nine undergraduate campuses of the University of California, the 23 campuses of California State University or private universities each year, but many don’t make it.

Only 19% of community college students who intend to transfer reach that goal within four years, and 28% do so within six years, according to a September 2020 report from the Public Policy Institute of California. The study is a snapshot of 2019 based on students who started in 2014-15.

Though it may be hard to imagine now, sometime in the not distant future, the emergency measures adopted this year to control the spread of COVID-19 will no longer be necessary. But California would benefit by keeping at least one of them in place for good: mailing a ballot to every active registered voter in the state.

When it became clear this spring that the pandemic was not likely to end before the Nov. 3 election, lawmakers acted to ensure that all active registered voters in California could participate without risking infection. Counties were directed to mail ballots to all voters, whether they requested one or not, and, with an onslaught of mail ballots expected, were allowed to start processing ballots extra early. The state also extended the grace period for mailed-in ballots to 17 days.