BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 386
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 386 (Levine) - As Amended: April 30, 2013
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:13-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill allows students at the California State University
(CSU) to enroll in courses offered entirely online by any CSU
campus. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that, by the 2015-16 academic year, a California
resident enrolled at a CSU campus may enroll for credit,
without formal admission and without paying additional
tuition, in a course provided entirely online by another CSU
campus.
2)Stipulates that (1) also applies to nonresident and
international CSU students, but these students must pay the
per unit fees for such courses at the host campus.
3)Authorizes the host campus, which is providing the online
course, to charge participating students from other campuses
reasonable administrative and course-based fees sufficient to
cover host's campus costs for these students' participation.
4)Requires the CSU Chancellor's Office to establish an online
methodology for students to be informed of the opportunity to
access the online courses and to simultaneously enroll in
courses at the home campus and online courses at another
campus.
5)Provides priority for enrollment in the online classes to
students from the host campus.
6)Requires the CSU Trustees, by January 1, 2015, to establish
(a) an online database of online courses available at all CSU
AB 386
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campuses, and (b) plans for the intrasystem cross-enrollment
process as described above.
FISCAL EFFECT
The CSU, over two years, will incur one-time General Fund costs
of about $1.1 million to: (a) develop systems and processes for
students to enroll and register in available online courses at
any CSU campus, including reliable and timely authentication of
grading and integration into student transcripts; and (b)
establish a reliable systemwide database of available online
courses and a means for students to determine course
availability. Ongoing GF costs are estimated at around $200,000.
The CSU indicates that it would use existing resources plus a
portion of the Governor's budget augmentation (see below) to
implement the above changes.
To the extent the cross-enrollment in online courses assists CSU
students expediting achievement of their educational goals,
students, the system, and the state will benefit from this
increased efficiency.
COMMENTS
1)Background . According to the Legislative Analyst's Office
(LAO), distance learning offers numerous benefits, including
providing greater access to educational and training
opportunities due to increased scheduling flexibility, as well
as allowing campuses to serve more students without additional
physical infrastructure. The Governor has encouraged the
segments to expand their online offerings. Specifically, his
2013-14 budget proposal earmarks $16.9 million to CCC and $10
million each to CSU and UC for this purpose.
Launched in January 2013, CSU Online is the newest platform of
services that supports students and faculty in teaching and
learning through online programs. CSU Online will host both
graduate and undergraduate programs, but has an initial focus
on former students who have had to drop out of the CSU and are
looking to complete their degrees.
2)Purpose . According to the author, while the CSU does permit
students to concurrently enroll in courses at campuses other
than their home campus, the option is severely underutilized.
AB 386
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According to CSU, each campus currently provides its students
with an online registration portal allowing students to easily
enroll in courses provided at their home campus. Each portal
currently operates as an isolated entity, however, and does
not provide students the ability to seek and enroll in online
courses provided at other CSU campuses.
This bill is supported by the CSU and by the California State
Student Association.
3)Related Legislation . The following online education bills are
pending in this committee:
a) AB 387 (Levine) requires CSU to report performance date
regarding online courses.
b) AB 944 (Nestande) establishes a common definition of
distance learning course and requires data gathering and
reporting on such courses offered by the state public
postsecondary institutions.
c) AB 985 (Rendon) establishes a task force to examine
online education in California's public higher education
systems.
In addition, SB 520 (Steinberg) seeks to provide a
statewide mechanism for online course providers to offer
transferable courses for credit throughout the state's
public postsecondary education, and SB 547 (Block) requires
the UC, CSU, and CCC academic senates to identify online
courses to be available for students of all three segments.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081