This paper considers noncredit instruction in the California Community College System. It identifies three related concepts: a state need for increased levels of education that noncredit instruction is well placed to supply, several changes that begin to facilitate that response, and additional changes that are needed to ensure success. The increasing interest in noncredit programs shown by the Academic Senate, the Chancellor's Office, the Legislature, and other professionals is not a coincidence. Several recent studies have focused on the rapid demographic changes and declining educational levels that are affecting California society and its economy. In response to these studies, noncredit programs join the renewed interest in basic skills success and adult learners as one way to provide the workers that the state requires. This paper will describe several legislative and policy developments to explain the link between noncredit history and current hopes for improved student success through enhanced funding, staffing, and academic integrity of programs. Appended are: (1) Authorized Areas--Community College Noncredit and K-12 Adult Education; (2) Recommendations from 2006 Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) paper; and (3) ASCCC Resolutions on Noncredit Funding and Academic Integrity. (Contains 16 footnotes and 21 sources.)