BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 67
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
AB 67 (Olsen, Chavez and Gorell) - As Amended: April 1, 2013
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: funding.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU) and
requests the University of California (UC) to freeze
undergraduate tuition and mandatory statewide fees until January
1, 2017, provided specified funding is provided to the
institutions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits the CSU Board of Trustees and encourages the UC
Board of Regents to refrain from increasing the amounts of
undergraduate tuition and mandatory statewide fees for
California residents until January 1, 2017.
2)Deems this section inoperative unless the following funding is
provided to the institutions in the specified annual budget
acts:
a) 5% increase in 2013-14 above the amount provided in the
Budget Act of 2012.
b) 5% increase in 2014-15 above the amount provided in the
Budget Act of 2013.
c) 4% increase in 2015-16 above the amount provided in the
Budget Act of 2014.
d) 4% increase in 2016-17 above the amount provided in the
Budget Act of 2015.
3)Includes an urgency clause to allow these provisions to take
effect for the 2013-14 academic year.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the UC Regents and the CSU Trustees to charge
various fees and prohibits certain fees from applying to
specified categories of students.
2)Provides that statutes related to UC (and most other aspects
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of the governance and operation of UC) are applicable only to
the extent that the UC Regents make such provisions
applicable. (Education Code � 67400)
3)Confers upon the CSU Trustees the powers, duties, and
functions with respect to the management, administration, and
control of the CSU system. (EC � 66066)
4)Establishes the Cal Grant Entitlement Programs to provide
grant assistance for fee payment in the UC, CSU and private
institutions in California, to the extent that students are
financially and academically eligible for such support. (EC �
69530)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . Fee revenue works interchangeably with
General Fund support to fund the core instructional mission of
the public segments. The state's portion essentially subsidizes
the amount paid by students in the form of fees. Since 2007-08,
state support for the UC and CSU has declined significantly.
The charts below illustrate the resulting fluctuation in fees at
the UC and the CSU over the last several years.
------------------------------ ------------------------------
------------------------------
| CSU Mandatory Systemwide |
|Student Tuition/Fees Resident |
| Undergraduate |
------------------------------
|-------+----------+------------|
| Year | Fee | Percent |
| | Amount | Change |
|-------+----------+------------|
|2007-08| $2,772 | 10.0% |
| | | |
|-------+----------+------------|
|2008-09| $3,048 | 10.0% |
| | | |
|-------+----------+------------|
|2009-10| $4,026 | 32.1% |
| | | |
|-------+----------+------------|
|2010-11| $4,440 | 10.3% |
| | | |
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|-------+----------+------------|
|2011-12| $5,472 | 23.2% |
| | | |
|-------+----------+------------|
|2012-13| $5,472 | 0% |
| | | |
|-------+----------+------------|
|*2013-1| $5,472 |0% |
| 4 | | |
-------------------------------
Governor's proposed budget . With the passage of Proposition 30
in 2012, funding to the institutions should stabilize for the
next few years, and the Governor has proposed a multi-year
funding plan that assumes no tuition fee increases over the next
four years as follows:
5% growth for UC and CSU in 2013-14 and 2014-15
4% growth for UC and CSU in 2015-16 and 2017-18
*Both segments have indicated that they do not plan to increase
mandatory tuition fees for the 2013-14 academic year.
Need for this bill . According to the author, this legislation
is necessary to create a predictable fee environment for
students attempting to budget for their higher education career.
The Governor has pledged funding, which should be enough
stability for universities to maintain static tuition until
2017.
LAO analysis . The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), in its
analysis of the Governor's budget (February 12, 2013), notes
that Cal Grants and institutional aid have covered mandatory
tuition fee increases for UC students with family incomes below
$110,000 and CSU students with family incomes below $75,000.
LAO also expresses concern that the Governor's proposed fee
freeze will benefit current students but create volatility for
future students, noting that previous extended tuition freezes
have been followed by periods of high annual tuition increases.
Previous legislation . AB 138 (Olsen) and AB 159 (Chavez), which
base tuition fees on student cohorts, are pending in this
Committee and will not be heard this year. AB 1501 of 2012
(John A. P�rez), which failed passage in the Senate, would have
funded the Middle Class Scholarship Program. SB 1461
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(Negrete-Mcleod), which died in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, would have limited CSU mandatory systemwide fees for
resident undergraduate students. In addition, in 2010, five
measures were introduced in the Senate affecting UC and CSU
fees, and all failed to pass the Legislature.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960