BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1901
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 1901 (Ruskin) - As Amended: April 5, 2010
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: Master Plan for Higher
Education.
SUMMARY : Declares Legislative intent that the continuous
planning process for the Master Plan for Higher Education
(Master Plan) include a needs-based assessment conducted by the
Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education
EXISTING LAW declares Legislative intent that the continuous
planning process for the Master Plan includes a legislative
study of California postsecondary education at 10-year intervals
and continuous planning by a state commission including a
five-year plan updated annually.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background : The Joint Committee on the Master Plan
for Higher Education (Joint Committee), established pursuant to
ACR 65 (Ruskin), Res. Chapter 106, Statutes of 2009, was created
to review the Master Plan and create a framework to ensure that
higher education continues to thrive. To date, the Joint
Committee has held six informational hearings conducting a
needs-based assessment of higher education in California. The
Joint Committee plans to hold one additional meeting to discuss
the identified needs of California's public higher education
segments and potential legislative solutions to the issues
raised in the Joint Committee hearings.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, current law does
not contain clear goals for public higher education as a whole,
and the Joint Committee has heard considerable testimony arguing
that without clear statewide goals it is difficult to hold
institutions accountable for outcomes. The author believes that
California's approach to higher education must be modified to
maintain an effective system of higher education, and that
setting in place clear and precise statewide goals is an
important first step. It is the intent of the author to place
these goals and other Joint Committee policy conclusions into
this bill upon the conclusion of the Joint Committee's work.
AB 1901
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Other efforts : AB 218 (Portantino), pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, would establish a state accountability
framework for the purpose of biennially assessing the collective
progress of the state's system of postsecondary education in
meeting specified educational and economic goals. In 2002, the
Senate Office of Research commissioned a study of higher
education accountability models in other states in order to
develop a framework that could function well in California. The
goals and measurements included in AB 218 are the result of that
study, along with the input of a workgroup that included the
higher education segments, LAO, and other stakeholders.
Prior legislation : SB 325 (Scott) of 2008, was virtually
identical to AB 218. SB 325 was vetoed by the Governor. SB
1331 (Alpert) of 2004, which was also vetoed by the Governor,
would have established a California Postsecondary Education
Accountability structure to provide an annual assessment of how
the state is meeting identified statewide public policy goals.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on File
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960