BILL NUMBER: AB 955 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 16, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add and repeal Article 2.3 (commencing with
Section 78230) to of Chapter 2 of Part
48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to
community colleges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 955, as amended, Williams. Community colleges: intersession
extension programs.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary
education in this state. Under existing law, community college
districts are established throughout the state and authorized to
maintain campuses and provide instruction to students.
This bill would , until January 1, 2020, authorize the
governing board of a community college district, meeting specified
requirements, to establish and maintain, without the approval of the
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, an extension
program meeting specified characteristics during summer and winter
intersessions. The bill would prohibit the governing board of a
community college district to expend moneys from the General Fund to
establish and maintain the extension program. The bill would require
a community college district maintaining the extension program to
make every effort to encourage broad participation in the program and
support access for students eligible for Board of Governors fee
waivers. The bill would require a community college district that
establishes and maintains the extension program to collect and keep
specified records related to the program and to submit, by October 1
of each year, to the Office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges information contained in those records. The bill
would require the chancellor, by November 1 of each year, to submit
to the Legislative Analyst's Office the information submitted by the
community college districts. The bill would require the Legislative
Analyst, by January 1, 2017, to submit to the Legislature a written
report that includes a summary of the information provided, an
assessment of the operation of the extension programs, and
suggestions for improvements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California's economy increasingly demands highly educated
workers, yet the supply of college graduates will not keep up with
demand. In 2010, President Obama recognized this crisis by calling on
the nation's community colleges to produce an additional five
million graduates by 2020.
(b) The Public Policy Institute of California has warned that by
2025, California will need an additional one million workers with a
baccalaureate degree to meet the state's workforce needs.
(c) The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that
occupations that require an associated
associate degree will grow by 19 percent through 2018, and
persons with two-year degrees are 30 percent more likely to be
employed and earn higher wages than those with only high school
diplomas.
(d) The California Community Colleges are uniquely positioned to
provide a higher education for millions of Californians and are
critical to the state's ability to meet its workforce needs.
(e) The California Community Colleges are experiencing record
demand for access to classes and programs that provide students with
the skills and education they need to enter the workforce and prepare
for the jobs of the future. However, funding for the California
Community Colleges has been cut by more than $800 million since 2008,
affecting student access and completion.
(f) According to the Public Policy Institute of California, these
budget cuts have resulted in almost 100,000 fewer course offerings,
the loss of access for 600,000 students, course waiting lists for
500,000 students, and the reduction of summer intersession course
offerings, which may slow the completion rates for some students, as
well as reduce the earnings for some faculty and staff.
(g) The lack of community college course offerings has led many
students to enroll in for-profit institutions, which are more
expensive than community colleges.
(h) The lack of courses during summer intersessions has had a
serious impact on veterans who must be enrolled in courses to access
housing benefits to which they are entitled through the Post-9/11
Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-252),
otherwise known as Post-9/11 GI Bill.
(i) Reduced access to summer intersessions also affects students
who wish to make progress toward their goals during the summer,
particularly those students who need only a course or two to complete
their goals but have been crowded out of those courses during the
regular academic session.
(j) Extension of programs in summer and winter intersessions will
give students an opportunity to take the courses they are not able to
enroll in during the state-supported regular session to accelerate
the completion of their goals, whether transfer, degree, or
certificate.
(k) By providing additional opportunities for students to complete
high-demand courses, spaces should be freed up in the
state-supported courses offered during the regular session,
increasing all students' ability to complete their education in a
timely manner.
(l) Participating community college districts should make every
effort to ensure the ability of low-income students to enroll in
extension courses by facilitating their participation in financial
aid programs and accessing the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which
refunds up to $2,500 in educational costs for eligible students.
(m) Extension programs should be subject to community college
district collective bargaining agreements, as well as all state laws
and regulations governing courses offered for credit.
(n) To meet the needs of Californians and California's economy, we
should recognize that the California Community Colleges are uniquely
able to offer high-quality programs at the lowest cost possible to
all Californians, and that the California Community Colleges should
be given the flexibility to meet California's educational needs in
the face of significant budget reductions.
SEC. 2. Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 78230) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 2.3. Intersession Extension Programs
78230. (a) The governing board of a community college district
may, without the approval of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, establish and maintain an extension program
offering credit courses during summer and winter intersessions.
(b) An extension program established pursuant to this section
shall have all of following characteristics:
(1) The program shall be self-supporting and all costs associated
with the program shall be recovered.
(2) Program enrollment shall be open to the public.
(3) The program shall be developed in conformance with this code
and Division 6 (commencing with Section 50001) of Title 5 of the
California Code of Regulations related to community college credit
courses.
(4) The program shall be subject to community college district
collective bargaining agreements.
(5) The program shall apply to all courses leading to
certificates, degrees, or transfer preparation.
(c) A community college district offering extension courses under
a program established and maintained under this section shall have
served a number of students equal to, or beyond, its funding limit
for the two immediately prior academic years, as provided in the
annual Budget Act and as reported by the Office of the Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges.
(d) The governing board of a community college district shall not
expend General Fund moneys to establish and maintain the extension
program.
(e) An extension credit course shall not supplant any course
funded with state apportionments. A community college district shall
not reduce a state-funded course section needed by students to
achieve basic skills, workforce training, or transfer goals, with the
intent of reestablishing those course sections as part of the
extension program. The governing board of a community college
district shall annually certify compliance with this subdivision by
board action taken at a regular session of the board.
(f) A degree credit course offered as an extension course shall
meet all of the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 55002 of
Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, as it exists on
January 1, 2013.
(g) The governing board of a community college district may charge
students enrolled in an extension course a fee that covers the
actual cost of the course and that is based upon the district's
nonresident fee rate for the year the course is offered. For purposes
of this subdivision, "actual cost" includes the actual cost of
instruction, necessary equipment and supplies, student services and
institutional support, and other costs of the community college
district used in calculating the costs of education for nonresident
students.
(h) In order to assist in providing access to extension courses
for students eligible for the Board of Governors fee waiver,
one-third of the revenue collected pursuant to subdivision (g) shall
be used by the district to provide financial assistance to these
students.
(i) A community college district maintaining an extension program
under this section shall make every effort to encourage broad
participation in the program and support access for students eligible
for Board of Governors fee waivers, including, but not limited to,
providing students with information about financial aid programs, the
American Opportunity Tax Credit, military benefits, scholarships,
and other financial assistance that may be available to students, as
well as working with campus foundations to provide financial
assistance for students attending extension programs.
(j) (1) A community college district maintaining an extension
program offering credit courses under this section shall collect and
keep records that measure student participation, student
demographics, and student outcomes in a manner consistent with
measures records collected by community
college districts in regular credit programs supported through state
apportionments, including an analysis of program effects, if any, on
district workload and district financial status. A community college
district shall submit this information to the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges by October 1 of each
year. For community college districts operating more than one
college, the evaluation shall be for each participating college.
(2) The chancellor shall submit all of the information provided by
community college districts pursuant to paragraph (1) to the
Legislative Analyst's Office by November 1 of each year.
(3) No later than January 1, 2017, the Legislative Analyst shall
submit to the Legislature a written report that includes a summary of
the information provided pursuant to this paragraph, an assessment
of the extent to which community college extension programs are
operated in a manner consistent with legislative intent, and
suggestions to the Legislature for needed statutory improvements.
(k) Courses offered by the extension program established and
maintained under this section may only be offered during summer and
winter intersessions.
78231. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.