This article explores language assessments and policies that Latino students and others from immigrant backgrounds face as they graduate from high school and attempt to enter community colleges. Focusing on California, the authors examine the assumptions that underlie these assessments and policies. They argue that the policies signal different conceptions (and misconceptions) about the nature of bilingualism and the needs of U.S.-educated language minority students pursuing academic goals. (Contains 7 notes.) [Additional funding for this article was provided by the University of California's All-Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity (UC ACCORD).]