BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                         SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Carol Liu, Chair
                           2013-2014 Regular Session
                                        

          BILL NO:       AB 2247
          AUTHOR:        Williams
          AMENDED:       June 11, 2014
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  June 18, 2014
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez

           SUBJECT  :  Postsecondary education: accreditation documents.
          
           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires all campuses of every public and private  
          postsecondary education institution in California that  
          receives state or federal financial aid funding to make  
          available on the institution's website the following  
          accreditation documents: the institution's institutional  
          accreditation visiting team reports and the institutional  
          accreditation agency action letters, as specified.

           BACKGROUND  

          Current law requires, as a condition of participation in  
          state financial aid programs administered by the California  
          Student Aid Commission (CSAC), an institution to be  
          accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the  
          United States Department of Education (USDE). 

          In addition, current law requires the Bureau for Private  
          Postsecondary Education (BPPE) to issue an approval to  
          operate private institutions that are accredited by a  
          USDE-recognized accrediting agency. 

           ANALYSIS
           
          This bill requires all campuses of every public and private  
          postsecondary education institution in California that  
          receives state or federal financial aid funding to make  
          available on the institution's website the following  
          accreditation documents: the institution's institutional  
          accreditation visiting team reports and the institutional  
          accreditation agency action letters, as specified.  More  
          specifically, this bill:






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          1)   Requires all campuses or other units of any segment of  
               postsecondary education that receive public funding  
               through state or federal financial aid programs, are  
               institutionally recognized by the United States  
               Department of Education, and offer education and  
               training programs to California students make final  
               institutional accreditation documents available to the  
               public via display in a prominent location on the  
               institution's Internet Web site, with a link to those  
               documents on the institutional Web site homepage.

          2)   Requires a campus or other unit of any segment of  
               postsecondary education whose documents are not  
               currently available to the public, make available all  
               institutional accreditation documents completed after  
               January 1, 2015, public, as specified above.

          3)   Defines specified terms as follows:

                    a)             Institutional accreditation  
                    documents means the institution's institutional  
                    accreditation visiting team reports and the  
                    institutional accreditation action letters  
                    following an accreditation agency's action.

                    b)             Segment of postsecondary education  
                    means the California Community Colleges, the  
                    California State University, the University of  
                    California, the independent institutions of  
                    higher education as defined in Section 66010, or  
                    the private postsecondary educational  
                    institutions as defined in Section 94858.

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   Need for the bill  .  According to the author's office,  
               California relies heavily on accrediting agencies to  
               ensure that colleges and universities are providing  
               quality educational programs for students. By  
               obtaining accreditation, private (including  
               for-profit) institutions are guaranteed the ability to  
               operate in California, and both public and private  
               institutions are provided access to billions of  







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               dollars in state and federal financial aid funding.   
               Yet, the state's ability to monitor the work of  
               accrediting agencies themselves, however, is virtually  
               nonexistent.  The Education Code is silent on this  
               issue as it does not currently require any public  
               posting of accreditation documents.  Additionally, not  
               all colleges routinely make their accreditation  
               documents available to the public and the ones that  
               do, do so voluntarily.  In light of this, AB 2247 is  
               aimed at ensuring a basic level of transparency in the  
               accreditation process by providing public access to  
               the substance of accreditation reviews. It is also  
               important to note that there is a move in the  
               direction for additional transparency.  As of June  
               2012, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges  
               (WASC) will post all evaluation team reports and  
               accrediting agency letters following the relevant  
               accrediting agency action. 

           2)   Accreditation  is required to receive state  
               appropriations and to be eligible for federal and  
               state financial aid programs.  Accreditation is a  
               method used in this country to generally: (1) assure  
               quality, (2) provide access to government funding, (3)  
               generate stakeholder support, and (4) facilitate  
               credit transfer for and to educational institutions.  

               Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental peer  
               review process used to determine academic quality.   
               Accrediting agencies are private organizations that  
               establish operating standards for educational or  
               professional institutions and programs, determine the  
               extent to which the standards are met, and publicly  
               announce their findings.  Under federal law, the U.S.  
               Department of Education (USDE) establishes the general  
               standards for accreditation agencies and is required  
               to publish a list of recognized accrediting agencies  
               that are deemed reliable authorities on the quality of  
               education provided by their accredited institutions.   
               Both accredited and unaccredited education and  
               training programs are allowed to operate in  
               California.  However, only accredited institutions are  
               authorized to participate in federal and state  
               financial aid programs and private accredited  







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               institutions are provided a streamlined pathway to  
               approval by the BPPE.   There are three basic types of  
               accreditation:

                  a)        Regional Accreditation: There are six  
                    USDE-recognized regional accrediting agencies.  
                    Each regional accreditor encompasses public, the  
                    vast majority of non-profit private  
                    (independent), and some for-profit postsecondary  
                    educational institutions in the region it serves.  
                    California's regional accrediting agency is  
                    separated into two commissions: the Accrediting  
                    Commission for Community and Junior Colleges  
                    (ACCJC) and the Senior College and University  
                    Commission (WASC-Sr.). 

                  b)        National Accreditation: National  
                    accreditation is not based on geography, but more  
                    focused to evaluate specific types of schools and  
                    programs. National accreditation is designed to  
                    allow nontraditional colleges (trade schools,  
                    religious schools, certain online schools) to be  
                    compared against similarly designed institutions.  
                     Different standards and categories are measured,  
                    depending on the type of institution.  

                  c)        Specialized/Programmatic Accreditation:   
                    Offered by accrediting agencies that represent  
                    specific fields of study, these agencies do not  
                    accredit entire colleges but instead accredit the  
                    programs within colleges that prepare students  
                    for the specific field or industry.  In most  
                    cases, specialized accreditation alone does not  
                    enable participation in state and federal  
                    financial aid programs.

               Accreditation is regulated by the federal government;  
               institutional accreditation is a requirement for  
               participation in federal financial aid programs.   
               Under federal regulations, accrediting agencies are  
               required to meet general outlined standards, but  
               specific processes and quality standards are left to  
               each accrediting agency to determine.  








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               Some states have established standards regarding  
               accreditation recognition for the purpose of  
               state-level regulation and state financial aid  
               programs; and, it appears that some accrediting  
               agencies participate in state-level requirements.   
               However, an accrediting agency's decision to  
               participate in state-level standards is unrelated to  
               their federal recognition.

           1)   Accrediting agency practices  .  A non-exhaustive search  
               by committee staff revealed only one accrediting  
               agency currently requiring all three documents to be  
               made available to the public (WASC-ACCJC) and one  
               additional accrediting agency (WASC-Sr.) currently  
               posts the visiting committee report and final action  
               letter to their website.  For other accrediting  
               agencies, committee staff was able to find very little  
               information regarding the substance of institutional  
               accreditation reviews, including for institutions  
               currently facing sanctions from their accreditor.   
               Despite the differing requirements of accrediting  
               agencies, most public institutions and several private  
               institutions (including USC, USF, St. Mary's and Loma  
               Linda University) have made these documents available  
               to the public through a website managed by California  
               Competes.     
                
                In an effort to provide reasonable approach to (a)  
               defining appropriate accreditation documents for  
               public review, and (b) clarifying the starting period  
               for the required release of documents while taking  
               into account current accrediting reviews that may be  
               in process and therefore not subject to public review  
               under current law, staff recommends the following  
               amendments:

               a)        On page 2, line 8, after "action" insert:  
                    relating to a comprehensive review, special  
                    visit, or any sanction or adverse action taken on  
                    the affiliated institution

               b)        On page 2, line 20, after "public" insert: ,  
                    once those documents have been made final through  
                    an action of the accrediting agency, 







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               c)        On page 3, line 9, strike "completed after  
                    January 1, 2015" and insert: finalized by the  
                    accrediting agency based on reviews that take  
                    place after July 1, 2015

           SUPPORT  

          California Competes
          Center for Public Interest Law
          Children's Advocacy Institute
          Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
          The Institute for College Access and Success

           OPPOSITION

           American Career College and West Coast University