BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 650
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 650 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: July 13, 2011
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote: 8-0
Education 10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill, until January 1, 2018, authorizes the Long Beach
Community College District (LBCCD) and the Long Beach Unified
School District (LBUSD) to enter into a partnership regarding
concurrent enrollment. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the LBCCD and the LBUSD to enter into a partnership
to provide participating students with an aligned sequence of
high school and college coursework leading to "capstone
college courses"-either (a) lower-division for credit courses
transferable to the California State University (CSU) or
University of California, or (b) college-level, occupational
courses that are a part of a sequence of career technical
education (CTE) courses leading to a degree or certificate.
2)States that the purpose of the partnership shall be to provide
a seamless bridge to college for pupils not already college
bound and to reduce the time needed for advanced students to
complete programs.
3)Stipulates that existing provisions regarding concurrent
enrollment do not apply to pupils enrolled in the partnership.
4)Requires the LBCCD to annually report to the California
Community College (CCC) Chancellor's Office regarding moneys
used for the partnership and to provide an independent
evaluation of the partnership to the Chancellor's Office and
the Legislature by December 30, 2016.
5)Authorizes the LBCCD to admit any student participating in the
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partnership, and authorizes, for purposes of receiving state
apportionments, the LBCCD to include high school pupils who
attend a community college within the district and participate
in the partnership, provided that no school district has
received reimbursement for the same instructional activity.
6)Authorizes LBCCD to assign priority for enrollment and course
registration to any of the following:
a) Students pursuing and making satisfactory academic
progress toward a degree, certificate, transfer, or basic
skills objective;
b) Students pursuing and making satisfactory academic
progress, pursuant to an approved individual education
plan, toward a career development objective; and,
c) Students participating in the partnership.
FISCAL EFFECT
No direct state costs. Any additional costs to LBCCD and LBUSD
will not be state-reimbursable, as establishment and operation
of the partnership is permissive. To the extent participation in
the partnership results in students more quickly completing
their educational goals, the college, and other students seeking
courses at the college, will benefit from these efficiencies.
COMMENTS
1)Background and Purpose . Concurrent enrollment refers to the
practice of allowing students to take college courses and earn
college credit while still in high school. Concurrent
enrollment has historically been used by academically advanced
high school students who were likely to attend college anyway.
More recently, regionally-based programs have been developed
to target student populations less likely to attend college.
These programs often blend high school and college coursework
to allow students to simultaneously earn a high school diploma
and credit toward a college degree.
Since 1994 the Long Beach Educational Partnership has worked
to provide a "seamless education" for Long Beach students from
preschool to graduate school. In 2008, the Partnership, with
the support and commitments of LBUSD, LBCCD, and California
State University Long Beach (CSULB), implemented the Long
Beach College Promise, providing all LBUSD students a
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guarantee of the opportunity to receive a college education,
by offering concurrent enrollment opportunities, a tuition
free semester at LBCCD, guaranteed college admission, early
and continued outreach, and multiple pathway support.
According to the author, existing law restricts LBCCD from
allowing additional high school students to take college
courses. This bill allows LBCCD, upon entering into a
Partnership with LBUSD, to accept more high school seniors who
are participating in the Promise to take LBCCD courses.
Through providing LBCCD additional flexibility to accept
Promise students, this bill aims to create a model program for
increasing college attendance and completion rates.
2)Related Legislation . AB 160 (Portantino), pending in the
Senate Appropriations, provides specified exemptions from
concurrent enrollment laws for community college districts
that enter into partnership agreements with local school
districts to provide concurrent enrollment opportunities for
high school students.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081