BILL NUMBER: AB 1889 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
An act to amend Sections 94809.6, 94897, 94904, 94920, and 94928
of , and to add Section 94874.3 to, the Education Code,
and to amend Section 8 of Chapter 310 of the Statutes of 2009,
relating to private postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1889, as amended, Portantino. Private postsecondary education:
California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Private Postsecondary
Education Act of 2009, which, among other things, provides for
student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary
schools in the state. The act provides transition provisions from
the former Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act
of 1989, which, among other things, provide for the preservation of
certain claims and remedies under the former act.
This bill would require a remedy that could have been ordered to
redress a violation of the former act to remain available for certain
claims or causes of action that are commenced after June 30, 2007.
(2) Existing law establishes the Bureau for Private Postsecondary
Education to regulate private postsecondary institutions through the
powers granted, and the duties imposed, by the act.
This bill would prohibit the bureau, for the period of July 1,
2010, to July 1, 2011, inclusive, from enforcing the act against
institutions certified to offer educational programs in flight
instruction and aircraft maintenance by the Federal Aviation
Administration. The bill would also require the Legislature to hold
public informational hearings for the purpose of reviewing the
appropriateness of regulating educational programs in flight
instruction and aircraft maintenance under the act.
(2)
(3) The act prohibits institutions, as defined, from
performing various actions.
This bill would additionally prohibit institutions from
offering a doctoral degree, unless the institution is accredited
prohibit an institution from offering an unaccredited
doctoral degree program without disclosing to prospective students
that the degree program is unaccredited, and any known limitation of
the unaccredited degree, including, but not limited to, whether the
degree is recognized for licensure or certification in other states
.
(3)
(4) The act prohibits an ability-to-benefit student,
defined as a student who does not have a certificate of graduation
from a school providing secondary education, or a recognized
equivalent of that certificate, from enrolling in an institution
unless the student achieves a specified score on an independently
administered examination from a specified list of examinations
prescribed by the United States Department of Education that
demonstrates that the student may benefit from the education and
training being offered.
This bill would authorize the Bureau for Private Postsecondary
Education to publish its own list of acceptable examinations if the
United States Department of Education does not have a list of
relevant examinations that pertain to the intended occupational
training.
(4)
(5) The act requires specified private postsecondary
institutions to refund 100% of the amount paid for institutional
charges, less specified expenses, if notice of cancellation is made
through attendance at the first class session, or the 7th class day
after enrollment, whichever is later.
This bill would change the 2nd deadline for notice of cancellation
from the 7th class day after enrollment, to the 7th day after
enrollment.
(5)
(6) Existing law defines "graduates employed in the
field," for purposes of the act, as graduates who are gainfully
employed within 6 months of graduation in a position for which the
skills obtained through the education and training provided by the
institution are required or provided a significant advantage to the
graduate in obtaining the position.
This bill would revise this definition to remove skills obtained
that have provided a significant advantage to the graduate in
obtaining the position , and include skills that are utilized to
perform the purpose or objective of the position or the major
responsibilities of the position .
(6)
(7) Existing law appropriates $580,000 from the Private
Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund to the
Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, for the purpose of
funding five private postsecondary education specialist and senior
specialist positions.
This bill would require those positions to be permanent, full-time
positions that are located in the Sacramento office of the bureau.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 94809.6 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
94809.6. (a) Notwithstanding the inoperative status or repeal of
the former Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act
of 1989 on or after July 1, 2007, any claim or cause of action in any
manner based on that act that was commenced on or before June 30,
2007, whether or not reduced to a final judgment, shall be preserved,
and a remedy that was or could have been ordered to redress a
violation of the act on or before June 30, 2007, may be ordered or
maintained thereafter. If a final judgment was obtained in an action
commenced on or after July 1, 2007, under the authority of Chapter
635 of the Statutes of 2007, the final judgment and a legal remedy
that was or could be maintained on or after July 1, 2007, under that
statute, shall be preserved and maintained thereafter.
(b) A remedy that could have been ordered to redress a violation
of the former Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform
Act of 1989 on or before June 30, 2007, shall remain available for
all claims or causes of action described in subdivision (a) of
Section 94809.5 that are commenced after June 30, 2007, except claims
to the Student Tuition Recovery Fund.
(c) The rights, obligations, claims, causes of action, and
remedies described in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be determined by
the provisions of the former Private Postsecondary and Vocational
Education Reform Act of 1989 in effect on or before June 30, 2007,
notwithstanding the inoperative status or repeal of the former
Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989 on
or after July 1, 2007.
SEC. 2. Section 94874.3 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
94874.3. (a) For the period of July 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011,
inclusive, the bureau shall not enforce this chapter against
institutions certified to offer educational programs in flight
instruction and aircraft maintenance by the Federal Aviation
Administration.
(b) The Legislature shall hold public informational hearings for
the purpose of reviewing the appropriateness of regulating
educational programs in flight instruction and aircraft maintenance
under this chapter.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 94897 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
94897. An institution shall not do any of the following:
(a) Use, or allow the use of, any reproduction or facsimile of the
Great Seal of the State of California on a diploma.
(b) Promise or guarantee employment, or otherwise overstate the
availability of jobs upon graduation.
(c) Advertise concerning job availability, degree of skill, or
length of time required to learn a trade or skill unless the
information is accurate and not misleading.
(d) Advertise, or indicate in promotional material, without
including the fact that the educational programs are delivered by
means of distance education if the educational programs are so
delivered.
(e) Advertise, or indicate in promotional material, that the
institution is accredited, unless the institution has been accredited
by an accrediting agency.
(f) Solicit students for enrollment by causing an advertisement to
be published in "help wanted" columns in a magazine, newspaper, or
publication, or use "blind" advertising that fails to identify the
institution.
(g) Offer to compensate a student to act as an agent of the
institution with regard to the solicitation, referral, or recruitment
of any person for enrollment in the institution, except that an
institution may award a token gift to a student for referring an
individual, provided that the gift is not in the form of money, no
more than one gift is provided annually to a student, and the gift's
cost is not more than one hundred dollars ($100).
(h) Pay any consideration to a person to induce that person to
sign an enrollment agreement for an educational program.
(i) Use a name in any manner improperly implying any of the
following:
(1) The institution is affiliated with any government agency,
public or private corporation, agency, or association if it is not,
in fact, thus affiliated.
(2) The institution is a public institution.
(3) The institution grants degrees, if the institution does not
grant degrees.
(j) In any manner make an untrue or misleading change in, or
untrue or misleading statement related to, a test score, grade or
record of grades, attendance record, record indicating student
completion, placement, employment, salaries, or financial
information, including any of the following:
(1) A financial report filed with the bureau.
(2) Information or records relating to the student's eligibility
for student financial aid at the institution.
(3) Any other record or document required by this chapter or by
the bureau.
(k) Willfully falsify, destroy, or conceal any document of record
while that document of record is required to be maintained by this
chapter.
(l) Use the terms "approval," "approved," "approval to operate,"
or "approved to operate" without stating clearly and conspicuously
that approval to operate means compliance with state standards as set
forth in this chapter. If the bureau has granted an institution
approval to operate, the institution may indicate that the
institution is "licensed" or "licensed to operate," but shall not
state or imply either of the following:
(1) The institution or its educational programs are endorsed or
recommended by the state or by the bureau.
(2) The approval to operate indicates that the institution exceeds
minimum state standards as set forth in this chapter.
(m) Direct any individual to perform an act that violates this
chapter, to refrain from reporting unlawful conduct to the bureau or
another government agency, or to engage in any unfair act to persuade
a student not to complain to the bureau or another
government governmental agency.
(n) Compensate an employee involved in recruitment, enrollment,
admissions, student attendance, or sales of educational materials to
students on the basis of a commission, commission draw, bonus, quota,
or other similar method related to the recruitment, enrollment,
admissions, student attendance, or sales of educational materials to
students, except as provided in paragraph (1) or (2):
(1) If the educational program is scheduled to be completed in 90
days or less, the institution shall pay compensation related to a
particular student only if that student completes the educational
program.
(2) For institutions participating in the federal student
financial aid programs, this subdivision shall not prevent the
payment of compensation to those involved in recruitment, admissions,
or the award of financial aid if those payments are in conformity
with federal regulations governing an institution's participation in
the federal student financial aid programs.
(o) Require a prospective student to provide personal contact
information in order to obtain, from the institution's Internet Web
site, educational program information that is required to be
contained in the school catalog or any information required pursuant
to the consumer information requirements of Title IV of the federal
Higher Education Act of 1965, and any amendments thereto.
(p) Offer a doctoral degree, unless the institution is accredited.
(p) Offer an unaccredited doctoral degree program without
disclosing to prospective students that the degree program is
unaccredited, and any known limitation of the unaccredited degree,
including, but not limited to, whether the degree is recognized for
licensure or certification in other states.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 94904 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
94904. Before an ability-to-benefit student may execute an
enrollment agreement, the institution shall have the student take an
independently administered examination from the list of examinations
prescribed by the United States Department of Education pursuant to
Section 484(d) of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1070a et seq.) as it is, from time to time, amended. The
student shall not enroll unless the student achieves a score, as
specified by the United States Department of Education, demonstrating
that the student may benefit from the education and training being
offered. If the United States Department of Education does not have a
list of relevant examinations that pertain to the intended
occupational training, the bureau may publish its own list of
acceptable examinations.
SEC. 4. SEC. 5. Section 94920 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
94920. An institution that does not participate in the federal
student financial aid programs shall do all of the following:
(a) The institution shall advise each student that a notice of
cancellation shall be in writing, and that a withdrawal may be
effectuated by the student's written notice or by the student's
conduct, including, but not necessarily limited to, a student's lack
of attendance.
(b) Institutions shall refund 100 percent of the amount paid for
institutional charges, less a reasonable deposit or application fee
not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250), if notice of
cancellation is made through attendance at the first class session,
or the seventh day after enrollment, whichever is later.
(c) The bureau may adopt by regulation a different method of
calculation for instruction delivered by other means, including, but
not necessarily limited to, distance education.
(d) The institution shall have a refund policy for the return of
unearned institutional charges if the student cancels an enrollment
agreement or withdraws during a period of attendance. The refund
policy for students who have completed 60 percent or less of the
period of attendance shall be a pro rata refund.
(e) The institution shall pay or credit refunds within 45 days of
a student's cancellation or withdrawal.
SEC. 5. SEC. 6. Section 94928 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
94928. As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Cohort population" means the number of students that began a
program on a cohort start date.
(b) "Cohort start date" means the first class day after the
cancellation period during which a cohort of students attends class
for a specific program.
(c) "Graduates" means the number of students who complete a
program within 100 percent of the published program length. An
institution may separately state completion information for students
completing the program within 150 percent of the original contracted
time, but that information shall not replace completion information
for students completing within the original scheduled time.
Completion information shall be separately stated for each campus or
branch of the institution.
(d) "Graduates available for employment" means the number of
graduates minus the number of graduates unavailable for employment.
(e) "Graduates employed in the field" means graduates who are
gainfully employed within six months of graduation in a position for
which the skills obtained through the education and training provided
by the institution are required or are utilized to perform the
purpose or objective of the position or the major responsibilities of
the position .
(f) "Graduates unavailable for employment" means graduates who,
after graduation, die, become incarcerated, are called to active
military duty, are international students that leave the United
States or do not have a visa allowing employment in the United
States, or are continuing their education at an accredited or
bureau-approved postsecondary institution.
(g) "Students available for graduation" means the cohort
population minus the number of students unavailable for graduation.
(h) "Students unavailable for graduation" means students who have
died, been incarcerated, or called to active military duty.
SEC. 6. SEC. 7. Section 8 of Chapter
310 of the Statutes of 2009 is amended to read:
Sec. 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and
notwithstanding the repeal of the former Private Postsecondary and
Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989, the sum of five hundred
eighty thousand dollars ($580,000) is hereby appropriated from the
Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund to
the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, for the purpose of
funding five permanent, full-time private postsecondary education
specialist and senior specialist positions to be located in the
Sacramento office of the Bureau of for
Private Postsecondary Education.
(b) The education specialist and senior specialist positions
described in subdivision (a) shall be included in the annual budget
for the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
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