Amended in Assembly April 30, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 15, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 386


Introduced by Assembly Member Levine

February 15, 2013


An act to add Chapter 9.6 (commencing with Section 66760) to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 386, as amended, Levine. Public postsecondary education: cross-enrollment: online education at the California State University.

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law authorizes any student enrolled in any campus of any of these 3 respective segments who meets prescribed requirements to enroll without formal admission or payment of additional fees, except as provided, in a maximum of one course per academic term at a campus of either of the other segments on a space-available basis at the discretion of the appropriate campus authorities on both campuses.

This bill would express legislative intent that, by the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year, students enrolled at a California State University (CSU) campus be provided an opportunity to enroll in online courses available at other CSU campuses. The bill would authorize any student enrolled at a campus of the California State University who meets specified requirements to enroll, without formal admission, and without payment of additional tuition or fees, except as provided, in a course provided entirely online, as defined, by another campus of the California State University on a space-available basis. The bill would require the trustees, on or before January 1, 2015, to establish an easily accessible online database of online courses available at all CSU campuses to provide CSU students with a streamlined process within the CSU system to allow them to find and enroll in courses that will earn them credit toward graduation, general education, and major requirements.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

It is the intent of the Legislature:

2(a) That, by the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year,
3students enrolled at a California State University (CSU) campus
4shall be provided the opportunity to enroll in online courses
5available at other CSU campuses. Students enrolling in online
6courses at a campus other than their home campus shall be provided
7a streamlined process of transferring units for credit at the home
8campus.

9(b) That the 23 campuses of the California State University
10system coordinate their online course offerings in order to provide
11students improved access to coursework and the opportunity to
12accelerate their degree completion.

13(c) To foster greater coordination among all segments of higher
14education in the state, in order to improve student outcomes.

15(d) That, in addition to intrasystem coordination, the segments
16of higher education shall take all steps possible to improve
17coordination within their respective segments.

18(e) That the segments of higher education appropriately allocate
19available resources to accomplish the above-stated goals.

20(f) That the segments of higher education appropriately use
21existing online education resources to accomplish the above-stated
22goals.

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SEC. 2.  

Chapter 9.6 (commencing with Section 66760) is added
2to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:

3 

4Chapter  9.6. Cross-Enrollment in Online Education at
5California State University
6

 

7

66760.  

For the purposes of this chapter, the following
8definitions apply:

9(a) “Chancellor” means the Chancellor of the California State
10University.

11(b) “CSU” means the California State University.

12(c) “Home campus” means the California State University
13campus at which the student is matriculated.

14(d) “Host campus” means the campus to which the student seeks
15access.

16

66760.5.  

By the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year, a
17California resident enrolled at a CSU campus who meets the
18requirements of Section 66761 may enroll, without formal
19admission, and without payment of additional tuition or fees, except
20as provided in Section 66761.5, in a course provided entirely online
21by another campus of the California State University on a
22space-available basis. Nonresident and international CSU students
23who meet these conditions may also enroll in an online course
24provided by another CSU campus, but shall pay the per unit fees
25for this course at the host campus.

26

66761.  

A student is qualified to participate in the program
27established by this chapter if he or she is enrolled at a CSU campus
28and meets the following requirements:

29(a) The student has attained a grade point average of 2.0 on a
304-point scale for work completed.

31(b) The student has paid appropriate tuition or fees, or both,
32required by the home campus for full-time enrollment for the
33academic term in which the student seeks to cross-enroll.

34(c) The student has no outstanding tuition or fees to be paid at
35the home campus.

36

66761.5.  

The host campus may charge participating students
37begin deletean end deletebegin inserta reasonable end insertadministration fee and specific course-based fees,
38not to exceed an amount sufficient for the campus to recover
39begin insert reasonableend insert administrative costs it incurs pursuant to this chapter.

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66762.  

The chancellor’s office shall establish a convenient
2online methodology so that students meeting the requirements of
3Section 66761 may do both of the following:

4(a) Be informed of the opportunity to access courses provided
5entirely online by another campus of the California State
6University.

7(b) Simultaneously enroll in courses at their home campus and
8enroll in courses provided entirely online at another campus of the
9California State University, as provided for in Section 66762.5.

10

66762.5.  

A matriculated CSU student shall have priority access
11to online courses provided at his or her home campus. A CSU
12student who meets the requirements of Section 66761, and seeks
13to enroll in courses provided entirely online by another CSU
14campusbegin insert,end insert shall be able to enrollbegin insert, end insert provided that cross-enrollment
15students generally have an opportunity to enroll in these online
16courses at any time after the priority enrollment period for
17continuing students as determined by each host campus. The host
18campus enrollment policy shall, to the extent possible, encourage
19cross-enrollment as provided for in this chapter.

20

66763.  

A course provided entirely online pursuant to this
21chapter shall be accepted for credit at the student’s home campus
22on the same basis as it would be for a student matriculated at the
23host campus.

24

66763.5.  

The enrollment of a student at a host campus pursuant
25to this chapter may be counted in the calculation of headcount or
26full-time equivalent student enrollment at the host campus. The
27home campus and the host campus at which the student is
28cross-enrolled may count in the calculation of headcount or
29full-time equivalent student enrollment only those units for which
30the student is enrolled at each respective campus.

31

66764.  

On or before January 1, 2015, the trustees shall establish
32both of the following:

33(a) An easily accessible online database of online courses
34available at all CSU campuses. This database shall provide CSU
35students with a streamlined process within the CSU system to
36allow students to find and enroll in courses that will earn them
37credit toward graduation, general education, and major
38requirements.

P5    1(b) Plans for an intrasystem cross-enrollment process to expedite
2student learning that will be operational at the beginning of the
32015-16 academic year.



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