Amended in Senate January 6, 2014

Amended in Senate June 25, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 10, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 834

Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

February 21, 2013

An act begin delete to amend Section 94910 of, and end delete to add Section 94910.5 begin delete to, end delete begin insert to end insert the Education Code, relating to private postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 834, as amended, Williams. Private postsecondary education: School Performance Fact Sheets.

Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, provides, among other things, for regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act exempts specified begin delete institutions end delete begin insert institutions, including certain law schools, end insert from all, or a portion, of its provisions. The act requires an institution to provide a prospective student prior to enrollment with a School Performance Fact Sheet, which is required to contain specified information relating to the educational program. begin delete Existing law end delete begin insert The act end insert requires an institution that maintains an Internet Web site to provide, on that Internet Web site, specified information, including a School Performance Fact Sheet for each educational program offered by the institution.

begin insert

The act authorizes an institution exempt from all or part of the act pursuant to specified provisions to apply to the bureau for an approval to operate subject to the act, as specified. The act requires these institutions to provide to prospective students the School Performance Fact Sheet, file that fact sheet with the bureau, and post it on the institution’s Internet Web site no later than the first August 1 after the institution is approved to operate and no later than August 1 of each year thereafter.

end insert

This bill would provide begin delete that end delete a law school begin insert otherwise exempt from the act that applies to the bureau for an approval to operate subject to the act and end insert that meets begin insert other end insert specified criteria begin delete shall be deemed end delete begin insert with an alternate way end insert to satisfy the requirements of the begin delete California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 end delete begin insert act end insert regarding a School Performance Fact begin delete Sheet end delete begin insert Sheet. Specifically, end insert by complying with a specified standard of the American Bar Association relating to the disclosure of consumer begin delete information and end delete begin insert information, end insert by providing begin delete completion, end delete begin insert completion rates of students and end insert placement begin insert rates end insert , bar passage begin insert rates end insert , and salary and wage information of graduates to prospective students prior to enrollment through the law school application process administered by the Law School Admission begin delete Council. end delete begin insert Council, and by providing to prospective students, at a minimum on its Internet Web site, any additional information required to be reported on a School Performance Fact Sheet, such a law school would satisfy those requirements. end insert

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

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

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 94910 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

94910.  

(a) Prior to enrollment, an institution shall provide a
prospective student with a School Performance Fact Sheet
containing, at a minimum, the following information, as it relates
to the educational program:

(1) Completion rates, as calculated pursuant to Article 16
(commencing with Section 94928).

(2) Placement rates for each educational program, as calculated
pursuant to Article 16 (commencing with Section 94928), if the
educational program is designed to lead to, or the institution makes
any express or implied claim related to preparing students for, a
recognized career, occupation, vocation, job, or job title.

(3) License examination passage rates for programs leading to
employment for which passage of a state licensing examination is
required, as calculated pursuant to Article 16 (commencing with
Section 94928).

(4) Salary or wage information, as calculated pursuant to Article
16 (commencing with Section 94928).

(5) If a program is too new to provide data for any of the
categories listed in this subdivision, the institution shall state on
its fact sheet: “This program is new. Therefore, the number of
students who graduate, the number of students who are placed, or
the starting salary you can earn after finishing the educational
program are unknown at this time. Information regarding general
salary and placement statistics may be available from government
sources or from the institution, but is not equivalent to actual
performance data.”

(6) All of the following:

(A) A description of the manner in which the figures described
in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, are calculated or a statement
informing the reader of where he or she may obtain a description
of the manner in which the figures described in paragraphs (1) to
(4), inclusive, are calculated.

(B) A statement informing the reader of where he or she may
obtain from the institution a list of the employment positions
determined to be within the field for which a student received
education and training for the calculation of job placement rates
as required by paragraph (2).

(C) A statement informing the reader of where he or she may
obtain from the institution a list of the objective sources of
information used to substantiate the salary disclosure as required
by paragraph (4).

(7) The following statements:

(A) “This fact sheet is filed with the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary Education. Regardless of any information you may
have relating to completion rates, placement rates, starting salaries,
or license exam passage rates, this fact sheet contains the
information as calculated pursuant to state law.”

(B) “Any questions a student may have regarding this fact sheet
that have not been satisfactorily answered by the institution may
be directed to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education at
(address), Sacramento, CA (ZIP Code), (Internet Web site address),
(telephone and fax numbers).”

(8) If the institution participates in federal financial aid
programs, the most recent three-year cohort default rate reported
by the United States Department of Education for the institution
and the percentage of enrolled students receiving federal student
loans.

(b) This section shall not apply to institutions governed by
Section 94910.5.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

Section 94910.5 is added to the Education Code,
to read:

94910.5.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a law school that
meets the criteria of subdivision (b) shall be deemed to satisfy the
requirements of this chapter regarding a School Performance Fact
Sheet by doing begin delete both end delete begin insert all end insert of the following:

(1) Complying with Standard 509 of the 2012-13 American
Bar Association’s Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval
of Law Schools.

(2) Providing begin delete completion, end delete begin insert completion rates of students and end insert
placement begin insert rates end insert , bar passage begin insert rates end insert , and salary and wage
information of graduates to prospective students prior to enrollment
through the law school application process administered by the
Law School Admission Council.

begin insert

(3) (A) Providing to prospective students any additional
information required to be reported on a School Performance Fact
Sheet that is not reported pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2),
including, but not limited to, the most recent three-year cohort
default rate reported by the United States Department of Education
for the law school and the percentage of enrolled students receiving
federal student loans.

end insert begin insert

(B) If the law school’s three-year cohort default rate reported
by the United States Department of Education is aggregated with
the three-year cohort default rate of an institution to which the
law school belongs, then the law school shall provide to
prospective students the law school’s three-year cohort default
rate disaggregated from the institution’s three-year cohort default
rate.

end insert begin insert

(C) The law school shall, at a minimum, provide the information
described in this paragraph to prospective students by reporting
the information on the law school’s Internet Web site.

end insert

(b) Subdivision (a) shall apply to a law school that meets the
following criteria:

(1) The law school is accredited by the Council of the Section
of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American
Bar Association.

(2) The law school is owned by an institution authorized to
operate by the bureau.

(3) The law school reports graduate salary information and other
information to the National Association for Law Placement.

begin insert

(4) The law school is approved to operate by the bureau
pursuant to Section 94874.8.

end insert