BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ķ



                                                                  AB 1663
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          Date of Hearing:   April 18, 2012

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Julia Brownley, Chair
                  AB 1663 (Dickinson) - As Amended:  April 11, 2012
           
          SUBJECT  :   Pupil instruction: California State Summer School for 
          Mathematics and Science

           SUMMARY  :  Requests the Regents of the University of California 
          (UC) to set a tuition fee for the California State Summer School 
          for Mathematics and Science program that corresponds to actual 
          program costs, up to but not exceeding $2810 per session in the 
          year 2012, and sets this amount as the base for future 5% annual 
          fee increases.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes the California State Summer School for Mathematics 
            and Science program to provide academic development to enable 
            pupils with demonstrated academic excellence in mathematics 
            and science to receive intensive educational enrichment in 
            these subjects and an opportunity for pupils who wish to study 
            mathematics or science or to pursue careers that require a 
            high degree of skills in and knowledge of mathematics and 
            science. 

          2)Requests the Regents of the UC to operate the summer school 
            program and to set a tuition fee within a range that 
            corresponds to actual program costs, up to but not exceeding 
            $1,000 in the year 2000, and to increase this fee by an amount 
            of up to 5% each year thereafter.

          3)Specifies that pupils who have demonstrated academic 
            excellence in mathematics and science and who meet one of the 
            following criteria shall be eligible for admission: 

             a)   The pupil graduated, or will graduate, from the 8th 
               grade at the end of the school year immediately preceding 
               the summer school session for which he or she is applying;
             b)   The pupil is currently enrolled in any of grades 9 to 
               12, inclusive; or, 
             c)   The pupil graduated from high school during the school 
               year immediately preceding the summer school session for 
               which he or she is applying.








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          4)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that at least 50% but 
            not more than 75% of the actual costs of the California State 
            Summer School for Mathematics and Science program would be 
            financed by state funds and the balance of the operating costs 
            would be financed with fees and private support.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown 

           COMMENTS  :   Background  :  The California State Summer School for 
          Mathematics and Science, also known as, COSMOS, is an intensive 
          four-week summer residential program for pupils with a 
          demonstrated aptitude for academic and professional careers in 
          the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 
          fields.  Pupils completing grades 8-12 have the opportunity to 
          work with faculty, researchers, and scientists while exploring 
          advanced STEM topics beyond those usually offered in California 
          high schools.  The program exists at four UC campuses: UC Davis, 
          UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz.  The pupil 
          participants appear to be closely split between male and female 
          according to data from 2006-2010, during which time 50.4% males 
          and 49.6% females enrolled in the program.  Enrollment data from 
          the same time frame shows that Asian students made up 48.1% of 
          COSMOS participants followed by 24.2% White, 17.5% 
          Chicano/Latino, 2.3% African American, and 0.3% American Indian 
          pupils. 

           Purpose of the bill  :  This bill revises the statute to reflect 
          the current in-state tuition fees assessed for the COSMOS 
          program and sets the base tuition fees at $2810 for the year 
          2012.  
            
          Current law specifies that the UC Regents may set a tuition fee 
          within a range that corresponds to actual program costs, up to 
          but not exceeding $1000 per session in the year 2000, and may 
          increase this fee by an amount up to 5% each year thereafter.  
          From the year 2000 to 2005 the program fees were increased by 5% 
          each year.  However, in 2005, Senate Bill (SB) 755 (Poochigian), 
          Chapter 676, Statutes of 2005 increased the tuition level to a 
          maximum of $2200 for the year 2006 thus representing an 
          allowable 72% increase from the 2005 level.  The statutes 
          setting the base fees at $2200 became inoperative and were 
          repealed on January 1, 2008.  The tuition fees were not restored 
          to the 2005 level, and rather continued to increase by 5% every 
          year thereafter, thus resulting in a tuition fee of $2810 for 








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          the year 2012.  This bill codifies this tuition fee level and 
          continues to limit fee increases to a maximum of 5% per year.
            
          The provisions allowing for the 2006 increase in fees were 
          amended into SB 755 (Poochigian), a bill dealing with the 
          Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program.  The 
          provisions dealing with COSMOS were added to the bill very late 
          in the legislative process and without a policy or fiscal 
          committee hearing on these amendments.  It is uncertain as to 
          what the rationale was for increasing the fees for two years 
          only, or what circumstance may have led to the need to increase 
          the fees.  It should be noted that in 2005, a fourth program 
          campus started up and the state level per-pupil funding 
          decreased drastically that year.      

          The University of California, the sponsor of this bill, contends 
          that the fact that the 2006-2007 statutes were not extended was 
          an inadvertent oversight on the part of the UC and this bill 
          seeks to correct it.  The author states, "This bill represents a 
          clarifying technical fix to the Education Code to reflect the 
          tuition that COSMOS is charging California residents for 2012 
          ($2,810) - and would request that the UC Regents continue to 
          raise annual tuition for California residents by no more than 5% 
          annually. Current Education Code language is outdated because it 
          references the year 2000, with a tuition level of $1,000, as the 
          base for future tuition increases.  Legislation in 2005 raised 
          the tuition level beyond the 2000 base amount but has since 
          sunsetted, creating a need to update the Education Code."  
          According to the UC, establishing the fees at the current levels 
          will ensure that the program continues to serve and admit 
          students at a level consistent with the number of pupils the 
          program has served over the years.    

          Alternatively, this section of the Education Code could be 
          amended in a way to reflect the tuition amount without the 2006 
          increase, however that would result in a reduction in the number 
          of students admitted to the program, and could result in the 
          closure of one of the four campus programs.  If the fees had 
          been reverted in 2008, the fees would be $1791 for 2012.  
          According to the sponsor, if this bill were to set the fees at 
          the $1791 level for 2012, it would have the effect of reducing 
          the number of participating students by 282 students in 2012.  
          Given the high demand for this program - as demonstrated by the 
          2596 current year applicants for 665 spots- it appears it may 
          not be prudent to set the fees at this lower level.      








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          Current statutes provide guidelines for tuition fees, 
          eligibility criteria, and other program elements, relative to 
          the operation of COSMOS.  Nevertheless these statues request, 
          and do not require, the UC Regents to operate the program as 
          outlined in the statutes.  The UC's constitutional autonomy 
          places limitations on legislative control over the UC.  The 
          California Constitution (Section 9 of Article IX) establishes UC 
          as a public trust and confers the full powers of the UC upon the 
          UC Regents.  The Constitution establishes that the UC is subject 
          to legislative control only to the degree necessary to ensure 
          the security of its funds and compliance with the terms of its 
          endowments.  However, it can be argued that the UC's failure to 
          restore the fees to the 2005 levels was inconsistent with 
          legislative intent.   
           
           Financial aid  :  In terms of student participation, currently 30% 
          of COSMOS students receive some sort of financial aid.  Current 
          statutes express the intent of the Legislature that the UC award 
          full or partial scholarships on the basis of need and that 
          pupils who are unable to pay all or part of the fee may petition 
          the UC for a fee reduction or waiver to ensure that a qualified 
          applicant is not denied admission solely because of his or her 
          inability to pay part or all of the fee. Current statutes 
          express the intent of the Legislature that the state fund at 
          least 50%, but no more than 75% of the program's actual costs, 
          and that the balance of the costs are to be financed with fees 
          and private support.  The full program cost per attendee is 
          $6,500, and state funds currently support 41% of program 
          expenses.    

           Program evaluation  :  Previous legislative reports on COSMOS 
          (submitted in 2004 and 2006), contain evidence supporting the 
          assertion that COSMOS is realizing the short-term goals the 
          Legislature intended to provide outstanding students 
          opportunities to explore STEM disciplines.  There is some 
          evidence that supports the notion that student participation in 
          COSMOS is having the desired mid- to long-term effects of 
          encouraging participants to pursue STEM disciplines as 
          undergraduates and graduate students, and in their careers.  The 
          2008 evaluation of the program notes that a random survey of 
          alumni was conducted and of the 17 alumni that responded 85% 
          were pursuing a STEM discipline or were planning to declare an 
          undergraduate major in a STEM field. The evaluation also 
          includes information from survey follow-up interview questions 








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          designed to determine how participation in COSMOS influenced 
          participant choices with regards to educational or career 
          objectives.  Out of the 17 random alumni interviews, three 
          answered that they did not think COSMOS had an impact, while 14 
          thought it did, and were able to articulate their belief that 
          COSMOS had an impact on their current objectives.

          Author's statement:  "COSMOS helps California meet its need for 
          a talented workforce by encouraging the brightest students in 
          high schools across the state to continue their interest in STEM 
          fields. COSMOS plays a vital role for the University of 
          California to help develop a talented STEM workforce that will 
          enhance the state's economic climate."

           Previous legislation  :  Senate Bill 755 (Poochigian), Chapter 
          676, Statutes of 2005 changes some requirements of the STAR 
          program and increased the tuition cap of the COSMOS program to 
          $2200 for the year 2006 and repealed these provisions on January 
          1, 2008.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          University of California (Sponsor) (Prior version) 
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, 
          AFL-CIO (Prior version)

           Opposition 
           
          None on file. 
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Marisol Aviņa / ED. / (916) 319-2087