BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1146
AUTHOR: Morell
AMENDED: April 8, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: July 3, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Concurrent enrollment.
SUMMARY
This bill extends, from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2019,
the exemption from the 5 percent cap on concurrent
enrollment for pupils who enroll in community college
summer session courses that meet specified criteria.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes the governing board of a school
district, upon recommendation of the principal of a
student's school of attendance, and with parental consent,
to authorize a student who would benefit from advanced
scholastic or vocational work to attend a community college
as a special part-time or full-time student. Current law
prohibits a principal from recommending, for community
college summer session attendance, more than five percent
of the total number of students in the same grade level and
exempts from the five percent cap a student recommended by
his or her principal for enrollment in a college-level
summer session course if the course in which the pupil is
enrolled meets specified criteria. This exemption is
repealed on January 1, 2014. (Education Code � 48800, et
seq.).
Current law also requires the California Community College
(CCC) Chancellor's Office to annually report to the
Department of Finance and the Legislature the amount of
full-time equivalent students (FTES) claimed by each CCC
district for high school pupils enrolled in non-credit,
non-degree applicable, degree applicable (excluding
physical education), and degree applicable physical
education courses; and provides that, for purposes of
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receiving state apportionments. CCC districts may only
include high school students within the CCC district's
report on FTES if the students are enrolled in courses that
are open to the general public, as specified. (EC �76002)
Current law also requires the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges to annually report the number of pupils
recommended above the 5% cap who enroll in community
college summer session courses and receive a passing grade.
(EC 48800)
Finally, current law requires the governing board of a
California Community College (CCC) district to assign a
low enrollment priority to special part-time or full-time
students in order to ensure that these students do not
displace regularly admitted community college students (EC
� 76001)
ANALYSIS
This bill extends by five years, an existing exemption from
the 5 percent cap on concurrent enrollment for high school
pupils who enroll in community college summer session
courses that meet specified criteria.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office,
funding flexibility has severely diminished career
technical education in California's secondary schools.
The author contends that serving the needs of students
should be the primary focus of all of the state's
educational institutions, and therefore the state
should seek to reduce limits on concurrent enrollment
opportunities. Extending opportunities for students
through CCC summer sessions will help to mitigate the
loss of options at the high school level.
The author states, "Understanding that most CCCs are
at or near enrollment capacity, this bill, by
extending the exemption sunset, only allows a minor
increase in concurrent enrollment during the summer
session for specific students."
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2) What's exempted ? Current law exempts a high school
student recommended by the principal for enrollment in
a community college summer session course from the 5%
cap if:
a) The course is a lower division
Intersegmental General Education Transfer
Curriculum (IGETC) course that applies to the
General Education breadth requirements of the
California State University (CSU).
b) The course is a college-level occupational
course for credit, and is part of a sequence of
vocational or career technical education courses
that leads to a degree or certificate, as
specified.
c) The course is necessary to assist a pupil
who has not passed the California High School
Exit Exam, and the student is in the senior year,
as specified.
3) Current status of Community Colleges . According to a
March 2013 study by the Public Policy Institute of
California (PPIC), The Impact of Budget Cuts on
California Community Colleges, the unprecedented
budget cuts faced by community colleges in the recent
recessionary period have resulted in reduced course
offerings, increases in class size, and consistent
declines in enrollment among first-time students.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California
(PPIC), course offerings have declined from 420,000 to
334,000 since 2008 (about 21% of course offerings)
with most being credit courses necessary to transfer
or obtain a degree or certificate. PPIC estimates that
since 2008, 600,000 students have not been able to
enroll in classes, and another 500,000 students were
on waiting lists for fall 2012 courses.
Although researchers found evidence that colleges have
responded by targeting their spending toward
higher-priority missions, the current fiscal climate
has still resulted in a failure to serve adults and
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access has been compromised. Given the failure to
effectively serve adults in the state, should
community college districts continue to be granted an
exemption to exceed the 5 percent cap that allows them
to claim full-time equivalent students (FTES) for
serving high school students (arguably a lower
priority mission)?
4) Summer sessions . According to the PPIC report cited in
staff comment #3, budget cuts have resulted in
reductions in a higher proportion of summer course
sections than in either fall or spring terms. The
largest rates of enrollment decline have occurred
among special-admit students (concurrently enrolled
K-12 students). The report noted that this is a
relatively small category of students.
The Chancellor's Office recently reported that
community colleges are beginning to expand summer
course offerings. In an informal survey of the state's
112 colleges, 67 percent of those responding indicated
that they would offer more courses this summer than
they did last year. Twentythree percent of colleges
said they would offer about the same number of
classes, and only 10 percent said they planned to
decrease summer course offerings. According to the
Chancellor of the Community Colleges, while the
increase in summer courses is a positive trend, it
will take years for the community colleges system to
make up for the $1.5 billion in cuts that forced
colleges to turn away 600,000 students over the past
five years.
To the extent that special part-time or full-time
students are required to have a lower enrollment
priority, current law should provide some assurance
that high school students would not displace regularly
admitted community college students who need to enroll
in limited summer session courses in order to meet
their educational objectives.
5) How many ? According to the statutorily required
reports on special admit enrollments; in 2011-12 about
18,759 special admit FTES were claimed systemwide, a
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reduction from a high of 48,019 in 2002-03. As
indicated in the chart below, statewide the total
number of high school students completing summer
session courses with a passing grade has been
consistently decreasing since 2005:
--------------------------------------------------------------
| California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office |
| Statewide Total Number of High School Pupils Completing |
| Summer |
| Session Courses with a Passing Grade (Section 48800) |
| |
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
| | Number of Special-| |
|Summer | Admit Pupils | Change From Prior Year |
|Session | Passing | |
--------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2005 | 51,435 | | |
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2006 | 48,031 | -3,404| -6.62%|
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2007 | 53,388 | 5,357| 11.15%|
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2008 | 59,303 | 5,915| 11.08%|
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2009 | 48,383 | -10,920| -18.41%|
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2010 | 27,933 | -20,450| -42.27%|
--------------------------------------------------------------
| 2011 | 21,118 | -6,815| -24.40%|
|--------------+-------------------+------------+--------------|
| 2012 | 16,403 | -4,715|-22.33% |
--------------------------------------------------------------
6) Related legislation . AB 955 (Williams) heard and
passed by this committee in June 2013 by a vote of
5-2, requires the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges to establish a voluntary pilot
program for purposes of authorizing community college
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districts to establish and maintain an extension
program offering credit courses during summer and
winter intersessions and to charge students a fee that
covers the actual cost of the course, until January
2020. AB 955 is currently awaiting action in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
Community College League of California
OPPOSITION
None on file.