BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1103
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 19, 2012

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
                                 Marty Block, Chair
                    SB 1103 (Wright) - As Amended:  April 24, 2012

           SENATE VOTE  :   37-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Postsecondary education:  Cal Grant Program.

           SUMMARY  :   Requires the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) 
          to post the following on its Internet website:

          1)Information submitted annually by institutions participating 
            in the Cal Grant program, pursuant to existing law, beginning 
            the year after CSAC receives the reports, to be made available 
            in a searchable database, and,

          2)Other information and links useful to students and parents, 
            including, but not limited to, local occupational profiles 
            available through the Employment Development Department's 
            labor Market Information Data Library. 

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes the Cal Grant program under the administration of 
            CSAC and establishes eligibility requirements for students 
            attending qualifying institutions.  (Education Code § 69430 et 
            seq.)

          2)Requires, beginning in 2012, institutions participating in the 
            Cal Grant Program to submit to CSAC annual enrollment, 
            persistence, and graduation data for all students, including 
            Cal Grant recipients, and requires institution to also provide 
            job placement rate and salary and wage information for 
            occupational and career programs as specified.  (EC § 44932.2) 
             

          3)Provides that a "qualifying institution" for purposes of 
            participation in the Cal Grant Program must be one of the 
            following (EC § 69432.7):

             a)   A California private or independent postsecondary 
               educational institution that participates in the Pell Grant 
               program and at least two of the following:








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               i)     Federal Work-Study
               ii)   Perkins Loan Program
               iii)  Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program

             b)   A nonprofit institution headquartered and operating in 
               California that:

               i)     Certifies to CSAC that 10% of its operating budget, 
                 as demonstrated in an audited financial statement, is 
                 expended for institutionally funded student financial aid 
                 in the form of grants;

               ii)    Demonstrates the capacity to administer the funds; 

               iii)   Is accredited by the Western Association of Schools 
                 and Colleges or is regionally accredited and was deemed 
                 qualified to participate in the Cal Grant Program by CSAC 
                 for the 2000-01 academic year; and,

               iv)    Meets any other state-required criteria adopted by 
                 regulation by CSAC in consultation with the Department of 
                 Finance. 

             c)   Any California public postsecondary educational 
               institution.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   The Senate Appropriations Committee determined 
          that there was either no cost to the state or minimal costs, 
          pursuant to Rule 28.8.

           COMMENTS  :    Background  .  The Education Trailer Bill (SB 70, 
          Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011) that was approved in March 2011, 
          requires each Cal Grant participating institution to provide 
          CSAC with the following information in order to participate in 
          the Cal Grant program:

          1)Enrollment, persistence, and graduation data for all students; 
            and, 

          2)Job placement rate and salary data and wage information for 
            each program that is either (1) designed or advertised to lead 
            to a particular type of job or (2) advertised or promoted with 
            any claim regarding job placement. 
           








                                                                  SB 1103
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          This bill would require CSAC to make this information publicly 
          available on its Web site along with other information and links 
          that may be useful to students, such as labor market information 
          through the state's Employment Development Department.

           Need for this bill  .  According to the author, college is a 
          significant investment for students and their families.  While 
          there are many Web sites that provide information about college 
          programs and costs, there are few sites that easily enable 
          students to compare programs and schools to help them make 
          informed choices about their investment.  Since the majority of 
          college students participate in some type of financial aid 
          program, and since each year approximately 250,000 students set 
          up a Web Grant account where they can access information about 
          and manage their Cal Grants, the CSAC Web site is a logical 
          place to house information that would enable students and 
          parents to do a side-by-side comparison of institutions or 
          compare similar programs at different institutions.  

           Timing  .  According to CSAC, it is currently developing the 
          regulations to implement SB 70, which should be finalized by 
          this September.  CSAC anticipates collecting the first 
          institutional reports by the end of December, thus enabling CSAC 
          to post the data in 2013.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          California Manufacturers and Technology Association
          California Student Aid Commission
           
           
           Opposition 
           
          None on file.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916) 
          319-3960