BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 150
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 150 (Lara)
As Amended July 1, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :30-1
HIGHER EDUCATION 8-0
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|Ayes:|Williams, Fong, Fox, | | |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | | |
| |Medina, Quirk-Silva, | | |
| |Weber | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes a community college district (CCD) to
exempt special part-time students from any nonresident tuition
fees at the California Community Colleges (CCC).
EXISTING LAW :
1)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. Additionally, current law prohibits a
principal from recommending, for community college summer
session attendance, more than 5% of the total number of
students in the same grade level and exempts from the 5% 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, and repeals
these exemptions on January 1, 2014 (Education Code (EC)
Section 48800, et seq.).
2)Exempts certain nonresident students from nonresident tuition
at California's public colleges if they meet specified
criteria, including having graduated from a California high
school or having attained the equivalent thereof (EC Section
68130.5).
3)Requires the CCC Chancellor's Office to report to the
Department of Finance and Legislature annually on the amount
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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 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. Additionally, current law requires the
governing board of a 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 Sections 76001 and
76002).
4)Authorizes a CCD to admit nonresident students and requires
that these students be charged a nonresident tuition fee.
Until June 30, 2013, the per unit nonresident fee is two times
the amount of the resident fee. Beginning July 1, 2013, the
per unit nonresident fee will be three times the amount of the
resident fee; and authorizes a CCD to waive from all or parts
of the fee, all nonresidents who enroll for six or fewer
units, but prohibits exemptions from this requirement on an
individual basis. Nonresident students are prohibited from
being reported as FTES for state apportionment purposes (EC
Section 76140).
5)Requires the governing board of each CCD to charge each
student an enrollment fee, currently $46 per unit per semester
effective with the summer term of the 2012 calendar year; and
authorizes the governing board of a CCD to exempt special
part-time students admitted pursuant to EC Section 76001 from
the fee requirement (EC Section 76300).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Concurrent enrollment provides pupils the opportunity
to enroll in college courses and earn college credit while still
enrolled in high school. Currently, a pupil is allowed to
concurrently enroll in a CCC as a "special admit" while still
attending high school, if the pupil's school district determines
that the pupil would benefit from "advanced scholastic or
vocational work." Special-admit students have typically been
advanced pupils wanting to take more challenging coursework or
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pupils who come from high schools where Advanced Placement or
honors courses are not widely available. Additionally, programs
such as middle college high schools and early college high
schools use concurrent enrollment to offer instructional
programs for at-risk pupils that focus on college preparatory
curricula. These programs are developed through partnerships
between a school district and a CCC. Existing law provides
certain exemptions to this process (as aforementioned in current
law above).
Need for the bill. The author states, "While the law already
grants CCDs the authority to make the exemption pursuant to
Section 76140(a)(1) [of the Education Code], the law is silent
regarding nonresident tuition for concurrently enrolled high
school students. The lack of clarity is creating confusion.
The Chancellor's Office [of the California Community Colleges]
and various college districts all have contradicting policies.
SB 150 provides clarity in the gray area of the law by granting
districts the authority to waive nonresident fees for
nonresident students that are concurrently enrolled on a
part-time basis. This bill is consistent with the policy choice
made with the passage of AB 540 [Firebaugh, Chapter 814,
Statutes of 2001] (and AB 130 and AB 131 more recently)
[Cedillo, Chapters 93 and 604, Statutes of 2011]."
Supporters argue AB 540 (Firebaugh), Chapter 814, Statutes of
2001, allows certain nonresident students attending California's
public colleges to pay resident tuition if they have attended a
California high school for at least three years and have
graduated. Because concurrent enrollment students have not yet
graduated high school, they do not meet the bill criteria and
are subject to nonresident tuition despite living and attending
high school in California. This can be as much as $254 per unit
(more than $1,000 for a four-unit class). Therefore, this small
segment of dedicated students is forced to pay cost-prohibitive
nonresident tuition, effectively denying them access to courses
that will better prepare them for college and the workforce.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0001356
SB 150
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