Amended in Senate July 10, 2013

Amended in Assembly May 28, 2013

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 Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 89225) to Chapter 2 of Part 55 of Division 8 of, and 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.begin insert The bill would require each CSU campus to inform students who may enroll in an online course pursuant to this authority of certain information related to the online course.end insert 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.

This bill would require the trustees to establish a series of uniform definitions for online education for CSU on or before January 1, 2015, as specified. The bill would require the trustees to report performance data about online education to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017, and every 2 years until 2021begin insert, and would, on or before January 1, 2017, require the trustees to report the performance data to the Legislative Analyst. The bill would, on or before October 1, 2017, require the Legislative Analyst to submit to the Legislature a status update regarding CSU’s implementation of the provisions of this bill and an assessment of the extent to which CSU’s online programs are operating in a manner consistent with legislative intent and statutory requirementsend insert.

This bill would require the trustees to report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2015, on the feasibility of developing an accelerated bachelor’s degree completion program consisting of online courses aimed at students who started college but never obtained a degree.

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.

23

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 9.6 (commencing with Section 66760) is added
24to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:

25 

26Chapter  9.6. Cross-Enrollment in Online Education at
27California State University
28

 

29

66760.  

For the purposes of this chapter, the following
30definitions apply:

31(a) “Chancellor” means the Chancellor of the California State
32University.

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

34(c) “Home campus” means the California State University
35campus at which the student is matriculated.

36(d) “Host campus” means the campus to which the student seeks
37access.

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66760.5.  

By the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year, a
2California resident enrolled at a CSU campus who meets the
3requirements ofbegin insert subdivision (a) ofend insert Section 66761 may enroll,
4without formal admission, and without payment of additional
5tuition or fees, except as provided in Section 66761.5, in a course
6provided entirely online by another campus of the California State
7University on a space-available basis. Nonresident and international
8CSU students who meet these conditions may also enroll in an
9online course provided by another CSU campus, but shall pay the
10per unit fees for this course at the host campus.

11

66761.  

begin insert(a)end insertbegin insertend insert A student is qualified to participate in the program
12established by this chapter if he or she is enrolled at a CSU campus
13and meets the following requirements:

begin delete

P4   1 14(a)

end delete

15begin insert(1)end insert The student has attained a grade point average of 2.0 on a
164-point scale for work completed.

begin delete

3 17(b)

end delete

18begin insert(2)end insert The student has paid appropriate tuition or fees, or both,
19required by the home campus for full-time enrollment for the
20academic term in which the student seeks to cross-enroll.

begin delete

6 21(c)

end delete

22begin insert(3)end insert The student has no outstanding tuition or fees to be paid at
23the home campus.

begin insert

24(b) Each CSU campus shall inform students who may enroll in
25an online course pursuant to this chapter of all of the following:

end insert
begin insert

26(1) The technical requirements a student must satisfy in order
27to successfully participate in, and complete, the online course.

end insert
begin insert

28(2) Any prerequisite courses or other academic preparation
29deemed necessary for the online course.

end insert
begin insert

30(3) Any materials, skills, knowledge, or other elements necessary
31to ensure a student’s opportunity to succeed in the online course.

end insert
32

66761.5.  

The host campus may charge participating students
33a reasonable administration fee and specific course-based fees, not
34to exceed an amount sufficient for the campus to recover reasonable
35administrative costs it incurs pursuant to this chapter.

36

66762.  

The chancellor’s office shall establish a convenient
37online methodology so that students meeting the requirements of
38begin insert subdivision (a) of end insert Section 66761 may do both of the following:

P5    1(a) Be informed of the opportunity to access courses provided
2entirely online by another campus of the California State
3University.

4(b) Simultaneously enroll in courses at their home campus and
5enroll in courses provided entirely online at another campus of the
6California State University, as provided for in Section 66762.5.

7

66762.5.  

A matriculated CSU student shall have priority access
8to online courses provided at his or her home campus. A CSU
9student who meets the requirements ofbegin insert subdivision (a) ofend insert Section
1066761, and seeks to enroll in courses provided entirely online by
11another CSU campus, shall be able to enroll, provided that
12cross-enrollment students generally have an opportunity to enroll
13in these online courses at any time after the priority enrollment
14period for continuing students as determined by each host campus.
15The host campus enrollment policy shall, to the extent possible,
16encourage cross-enrollment as provided for in this chapter.

17

66763.  

A course provided entirely online pursuant to this
18chapter shall be accepted for credit at the student’s home campus
19on the same basis as it would be for a student matriculated at the
20host campus.

21

66763.5.  

The enrollment of a student at a host campus pursuant
22to this chapter may be counted in the calculation of headcount or
23full-time equivalent student enrollment at the host campus. The
24home campus and the host campus at which the student is
25cross-enrolled may count in the calculation of headcount or
26full-time equivalent student enrollment only those units for which
27the student is enrolled at each respective campus.

28

66764.  

On or before January 1, 2015, the trustees shall establish
29both of the following:

30(a) An easily accessible online database of online courses
31available at all CSU campuses. This database shall provide CSU
32students with a streamlined process within the CSU system to
33allow students to find and enroll in courses that will earn them
34credit toward graduation, general education, and major
35requirements.

36(b) Plans for an intrasystem cross-enrollment process to expedite
37student learning that will be operational at the beginning of the
382015-16 academic year.

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SEC. 3.  

Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 89225) is added
2to Chapter 2 of Part 55 of Division 8 of Title 3 of the Education
3Code
, to read:

4 

5Article 3.5.  Online Education
6

 

7

89225.  

On or before January 1, 2015, for the purposes of
8measuring the effectiveness of online education, the trustees shall
9establish a series of uniform definitions for online education. The
10definitions developed by the trustees under this section shall, at a
11minimum, include a systemwide definition for an online course
12where the course can be entirely completed remotely.

13

89226.  

(a) On or before January 1, 2017, and on or before
14January 1 every two years thereafter, the trustees shall report to
15the Legislature key performance data on online courses as defined
16in Section 89225, including, but not necessarily limited to, all of
17the following:

18(1) The number of students enrolled at each campus.

19(2) Course completion rates for courses other than online
20courses.

21(3) Completion rates for degree programs that include no online
22courses.

23(4) Grade point average for students enrolled in online courses.

24(5) The number of students cross-enrolled in online courses at
25a California State University campus other than the campus at
26which they are matriculated.

27(6) Course completion rates for students enrolled in online
28courses.

29(7) Completion rates for degree programs that include online
30courses.

begin insert

31(b) (1) On or before January 1, 2017, the trustees shall report
32to the Legislative Analyst the key performance data described in
33subdivision (a).

end insert
begin insert

34(2) On or before October 1, 2017, the Legislative Analyst shall
35submit a status update regarding the California State University’s
36implementation of the provisions of the bill that added this section
37and an assessment of the extent to which the online programs of
38the California State University are operating in a manner
39consistent with legislative intent and statutory requirements.

end insert
begin delete

40(b)

end delete

P7    1begin insert(c)end insert Student enrollment and completion rate data included in a
2report to be submitted pursuant to thisbegin delete subdivisionend deletebegin insert sectionend insert shall
3be made available by demographics, including age, gender, and
4ethnicity.

begin delete

5(c)

end delete

6begin insert(d)end insert (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
7subdivision (a) is inoperative on July 1, 2021, pursuant to Section
810231.5 of the Government Code.

9(2) The report prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
10submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
11Code.

12

SEC. 4.  

On or before January 1, 2015, the Trustees of the
13California State University shall report to the Legislature on the
14feasibility of developing an accelerated bachelor’s degree
15completion program consisting of online courses aimed at students
16who started college but never obtained a degree. The report
17prepared pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance
18with Section 9795 of the Government Code.



O

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