BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 850
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 850 (Block) - As Amended: August 4, 2014
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:12-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a pilot program authorizing community
college districts to establish baccalaureate degree programs.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the California Community College (CCC) Board of
Governors (BOG), in consultation with the California State
University (CSU) and the University of California (UC), to
approve a baccalaureate degree program in up to 15 districts.
A program must enroll its first students by 2017-18 and
participating students must complete their degrees by the
2022-23. Sunsets the pilot program on January 1, 2024.
2)Requires districts, as a condition for eligibility to
participate in the pilot program, to have a written policy
requiring all students seeking a BOG fee waiver to instead
submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) or a California Dream Act application.
3)Stipulates that a district may offer only one baccalaureate
degree program at one campus within the district and requires
districts to identify and document unmet workforce needs and
to not offer a program already offered by CSU or UC.
4)Requires a district seeking to participate in the pilot
program to submit specified information for review by the CCC
Chancellor and approval by the BOG.
5)Requires the BOG, by March 31, 2015, to adopt regulations
establishing a funding model, for each full-time equivalent
student in the program, which is not to exceed the CCC's
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marginal cost for credit instruction, as established in
current law.
6)Stipulates that student fees for lower division coursework
shall not exceed CCC student fee amounts and that fees for
upper division coursework shall equal the CCC fee plus $84 per
unit.
7)Requires the Department of Finance and Legislative Analyst's
Office to jointly conduct interim and final evaluations of the
pilot program, as specified, and report to the Legislature and
the Governor. The interim evaluation is due July 1, 2018 and
the final evaluation is due by July 1, 2022.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Ongoing General Fund costs to the Chancellor's Office in the
range of $350,000 for three to four staff to establish and
monitor district programs, including developing guidelines and
reviewing, approving, and monitoring participating districts'
baccalaureate degree programs.
2)Significant one-time and ongoing costs to participating
districts for establishing and operating the programs,
including any needed capital improvements and equipment
purchases. Since participation by districts is voluntary,
these costs are not reimbursable and will be offset by state
apportionments and student fee revenues. To the extent that
students who participate in the program would otherwise have
attended a CSU campus, the state cost for the student's
enrollment would likely be similar.
3)Minor absorbable costs for DOF and LAO to conduct statewide
program evaluations.
COMMENTS
Purpose . According to the author, the state faces an urgent need
to increase the number of Californians with four-year degrees by
2025, necessitating an additional 60,000 baccalaureate degrees
per year. The author contends that this bill seeks to find new
methods for addressing this skills gap by authorizing the
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offering of baccalaureate degrees at California's community
colleges. According to the author, this bill is patterned after
the applied baccalaureate degree model offered in community
colleges of more than 20 other states.
This bill prohibits a participating community college district
from offering a baccalaureate degree that is offered by a CSU or
a UC; with that in mind, the bill only allows for the awarding
of what translates to very specific four-year degrees that are
career technical in nature. According to several community
college districts interested in participating in the pilot, the
following is a brief list of the types of four-year degrees
that might be offered in the pilot: a) dental hygiene; b)
industrial technology; c) allied health technology; d) emergency
medical technician; and e) data management for health care.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081