BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1025
AUTHOR: Garcia
AMENDED: March 21, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 5, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Credit by examination.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) and
the California State University (CSU) to provide information
about credit by examination opportunities wherever course and
class information is available and requests the University of
California (UC) comply with these same requirements.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes the UC Regents as the governing body of
the UC and grants authority to the Regents to determine final
policies and procedures on behalf of the UC. (Education Code
� 92020 and � 92430)
Current law establishes the CSU Board of Trustees (BOT) as the
governing body of the CSU and specifies the BOT's power,
duties and functions with respect to the management,
administration, and control of the CSU.
(EC � 66600 and � 66606).
Current law authorizes the governing board of each CCC
district to adopt policies and procedures pertaining to credit
by examination and allows for the governing board of the CCC
district to grant credit to any student who satisfactorily
passes an examination approved or conducted by proper
authorities of the college. (California Code of Regulations,
Title 5, 55050)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Requires the CCC and the CSU to provide information about
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credit by examination opportunities wherever course and
class information is available
2) Request the UC to provide information about credit by
examination opportunities wherever course and class
information is available
3) Identifies mandated costs.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, many
students are not aware that credit by examination is an
option or how to utilize it. The author contends that,
with budget cuts, it is difficult to see a counselor (who
might otherwise be the source of such information) in a
timely manner. The author also contends that the amount
and level of detail of information on credit by
examination posted and made available by the institutions
varies from school to school.
2) Credit by examination . A variety of credit by
examination tests are used and accepted by the University
of California (UC), California State University (CSU),
and California Community Colleges (CCC). Credit by
examination tests are comprised of campus-originated
challenge examinations (differentiated from placement
examinations) and the standardized external examinations,
such as Advance Placement (AP) tests, International
Baccalaureate (IB) and College Level Entrance Program
(CLEP). AP and IB exams are taken by high school pupils
who were enrolled in AP and IB classes in high school.
A recent research brief by the Council for Adult and
Experiential Learning (CAEL), found that underserved
students who earn credit through prior learning
assessments have higher degree to completion rates and
shorter time-to-degree. CAEL also found that there is a
financial savings benefit for low-income students who
take and successfully pass credit by examination tests,
since the cost of having prior learning evaluated for
credit is typically less than the cost of the tuition for
the same number of credit hours.
3) Current status . The UC, CSU, and CCC already appear to
have policies and procedures in place to ensure students
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have multiple ways of receiving all the information they
need regarding credit by examination.
a) University of California: The UC admissions
website lists all of the UC accepted credit by
examination options. Additionally, according to the
UC Office of the President, UC confers regularly
with high school guidance counselors regarding the
UC admissions policies, including credit by
examination. The UC admissions directors and staff
at each campus regularly attend college fairs on
high school and CCC campuses and speak at a variety
of other venues to address questions from
prospective students including credit by
examination.
b) California State University: In 2010, the
Academic Senate of the CSU unanimously endorsed a
policy providing guidelines for the use of CLEP
examinations as the basis for awarding general
education credit. This policy applies to CSU
students and to those planning to transfer to a CSU
campus. The CSU provided their guidelines to the
CCC whose students transfer to the CSU; the
guidelines inform the CCC students how to apply CLEP
examinations toward certifications of general
education requirements prior to transfer.
Additionally, the CSU partnered with the College
Board (administers of the CLEP examinations) to
ensure students are made aware of their CLEP
options. According to the California State
University (CSU) and the College Board, students are
made aware of their College Level Entrance Program
(CLEP) examination options in a number of ways,
including, via faculty and advisers, admissions
office, adult and/or veterans office, registrar's
office and campus testing centers. Additionally,
the CSU has posted their CLEP policies on their
website and have included their credit by exam
policies in their catalogs and other publications
for students and parents.
c) California Community Colleges: The Academic
Senate for the CCC endorsed their newest policy
providing guidelines for the use of CLEP
examinations as the basis for awarding general
education credit in June of 2011. The Academic
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Senate's policy is very similar to that of the CSU.
Additionally, according to a January 2013 credit by
examination survey performed by the CCC Chancellor's
Office and completed by 74 CCC campuses, every
college expressed they have credit by examination
policies and procedures clearly defined and relayed
to their students. The respondents also stated that
their college credit by examination policies and
procedures are listed in all course catalogs and on
their websites.
4) Mandated costs . Legislative counsel has identified
mandated costs, likely as a result of the provisions
requiring that community colleges provide information
about credit by examination opportunities, as specified.
To the extent that community colleges already do this,
these provisions could result in the state subsidizing
costs for activities that are already being undertaken.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.