BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1663
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1663 (Dickinson) - As Amended: April 11, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:11-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requests the University of California (UC) to
establish a tuition fee for the California State Summer School
for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) within a range that
corresponds to actual program costs, up to but not exceeding
$2,810 per session in 2012. Further establishes this amount as
the base by which the fee may be increased by up to 5% each
year.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)No additional GF costs to the state. This bill codifies
existing practice by the UC with regard to the amount of
tuition charged for the COSMOS program. Since 2006, the UC
has increased program tuition by 5% each year based on a
$2,200 fee amount established in statute.
2)The 2011 Budget Act allocated $1.9 million GF for the COSMOS
program.
COMMENTS
1)Background . AB 2536 (Poochigian), Chapter 805, Statues of
1998, established COSMOS as a multidisciplinary mathematics
and science training program to enable pupils with
demonstrated academic excellence in mathematics and science to
receive intensive training in these subjects. Chapter 805
further requested the UC to operate COSMOS. According to UC,
"COSMOS is a residential academic experience for top high
school students in mathematics and science. The COSMOS course
clusters address topics not traditionally taught in high
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schools such as astronomy, aerospace engineering, biomedical
sciences, computer science, wetlands ecology, ocean science,
robotics, game theory, and more."
Any student attending a public or private school completing
grades 8-12 is eligible for COSMOS. High priority is given to
students attending grades 9-11. Students completing 8th
grade, however, are eligible if they demonstrate academic
achievement beyond the typical 8th grade level. An example
would be an 8th grade student enrolled in geometry.
According to UC, four campuses operate this program: UC Davis,
UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz. Each campus can
only accommodate approximately 160 students each summer.
Between 2006 and 2010, 3,154 students participated in the
program. Of this number, 1,590 (50.4%) were male and 1,564
(49.6%) were female. The ethnic breakdown of enrollment
during this period is as follows: 48.1% Asian, 24.2%
Caucasian, 17.4% Chicano/Latino, 2.3% African American, and
0.3% Native American.
2)Purpose . Existing law requests the UC set a tuition fee for
COSMOS within a range that corresponds to actual program
costs, up to but not exceeding $1,000 per session in 2000. It
further authorizes UC to increase this fee by up to 5% each
year. Between 2000 and 2005, UC increased fees by 5% each
year.
SB 755 (Poochigian), Chapter 676, Statues of 2006, requested
UC to establish a session fee of up to $2,200 in 2006. It
also authorized UC to increase the fee by up to 5% each year.
Chapter 676 sunsetted these provisions on January 1, 2008.
Even though language authorizing UC to charge a base COSMOS
tuition fee of $2,200 sunsetted in 2008, UC continued to
increase the fee by 5% each year based on the $2,200 not the
current law base fee level of $1,000. As a result, the 2012
tuition fee is $2,810. According to UC, sponsor of this bill,
"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
that raised the tuition level to a base amount of $2,200 has
since sunsetted, creating a need to establish a new base in
the Education Code. AB 1663 represents a technical clean-up
to ensure that COSMOS is able to continue to provide access to
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well qualified students wishing to attend the program, and
provide financial assistance to those students who need it."
3)Program costs and financial aid . Students in this program pay
a non-refundable $30 application fee and $2,810 tuition fee
(includes room and board). Out of state students pay a
tuition fee of $6,500. The annual COSMOS report to the
Legislature reports the average cost per capital to UC to host
a student for the four-week summer session, including costs of
room and board and instruction, is $6,500 per participant.
Financial aid is available for in-state students. According
to UC, "Students who qualify for a free or reduced price lunch
under The National School Lunch Program will likely qualify to
receive full financial assistance, based on verification
requirements and availability of funding." Specifically, a
family of four with a yearly income of $65,000 would have
likely qualified for a full scholarship in 2010 ($2,550).
Furthermore, UC reports the average scholarship provided in
2010 was $2,343 and a total of $499,613 in financial aid was
provided to 212 COSMOS students.
The UC also reports it seeks private funding to offset the
costs of the program. According to UC, the private funding it
receives is primarily devoted to provide financial aid to
students. In the 2010-11 fiscal year (FY) UC raised $583,000
for the program. In comparison, $796,120 was raised in the
2007-08 FY.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081