Amended in Assembly June 1, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 801

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Sections 66025.9, 69514.5, 69561, and 76300 of, and to add Sections 67003.5 and 68084.5 to, the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 801, as amended, Bloom. Postsecondary education: Success for Homeless Youth in Higher Education Act.

(1) Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of postsecondary education in this state. Among other things, the act requires the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority in that system for registration for enrollment to foster youth, as defined, or former foster youth, until the repeal of this provision on January 1, 2017.

This bill would enact the Success for Homeless Youth in Higher Education Act. The bill would extend the above-referenced priority requirement, with respect to the California State University and community college districts, and would extend the request for the granting of priority, with respect to the University of California, to include homeless youth and former homeless youth, as defined, and extend the begin delete existence end delete begin insert operation end insert of this provision until January 1, 2020. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act set forth various duties and responsibilities for state entities, such as the California State University, the California Community Colleges, the University of California, and the Treasurer, with respect to federal assistance to higher education. Existing provisions of the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program set forth the requirements for status as a “qualifying institution,” whose students are eligible, if as individuals they meet pertinent program requirements, to receive Cal Grant awards.

This bill would require qualifying institutions, other than the University of California, which would be requested to do so, to designate a begin delete Homeless and Foster Student Liaison end delete begin insert staff member who is employed end insert within the begin delete institution’s end delete financial aid begin delete office end delete begin insert office, or another appropriate office or department, of the institution to serve as a Homeless and Foster Student Liaison, end insert and to inform current and prospective students of the institution about student financial aid and other assistance available to current and former homeless youth and current and former foster youth, as specified. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(3) Existing law establishes standards relating to the determination of a student’s residence for purposes of setting the amount of tuition and fees that are owed by that student. Existing law provides that a student who currently resides in California and is 19 years of age or under at the time of enrollment, and who is currently a dependent or ward of the state through California’s child welfare system, or was formerly served by California’s child welfare system, as specified, may be entitled to resident classification until he or she has resided in the state the minimum time necessary to become a resident.

This bill would additionally provide that a student who currently resides in California and is 19 years of age or under at the time of enrollment begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert be entitled to resident classification until he or she has resided in the state the minimum time necessary to become a resident if begin insert it is verified that end insert he or she has been determined at any time during the 2 years immediately preceding the residency classification determination to be homeless, as defined. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(4) Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission and assigns to it numerous duties with respect to student financial aid programs, including the Community College Student Financial Aid Outreach Program and the Student Opportunity and Access Program. Both of these programs include provisions addressing the needs of youth from low-income households, and specifically include low-income youth within the scope of the respective programs.

This bill would additionally place homeless youth and former homeless youth, as defined, within the scope of these programs.

(5) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law requires the governing board of each community college district to charge an enrollment fee of $46 per unit per semester, but authorizes the waiver of this fee for students meeting specified requirements.

This bill would add a person who is, at the time of enrollment, a homeless youth or former homeless youth, as defined, to the groups of persons eligible for this fee waiver. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Success for Homeless Youth in Higher Education Act.

SEC. 2.  

Section 66025.9 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

66025.9.  

(a) The California State University and each
community college district shall, and the University of California
is requested to, with respect to each campus in their respective
jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, grant
priority in that system for registration for enrollment to a foster
youth or former foster youth or a homeless youth or former
homeless youth.

(b) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Foster youth” means a person who is currently in foster
care, and “former foster youth” means a person who is an
emancipated foster youth and who is 24 years of age or younger.

(2) (A) “Homeless” has the same meaning as defined in Section
725 of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 11434a), as it read on December 31, 2015.

(B) “Homeless youth” means a person who is 24 years of age
or younger and who has been determined to be homeless at any
time during the current calendar year, and “former homeless youth”
means a person who is 24 years of age or younger, and who, while
not currently homeless, has been determined to be homeless, at
any time in the immediately preceding six calendar years, by any
of the following:

(i) A homeless services provider, as that term is defined in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 103577 of the Health
and Safety Code.

(ii) The director of a federal TRIO program or Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs program,
or a designee of that director.

(iii) A financial aid administrator for an institution of higher
education.

(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 3.  

Section 67003.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

67003.5.  

(a) A postsecondary educational institution that is a
“qualifying institution,” as defined in Section 69432.7, shall do
both of the following:

(1) Designate begin delete a Homeless and Foster Student Liaison end delete begin insert a staff
member who is employed end insert within the begin delete institution’s end delete financial aid
begin delete office. end delete begin insert office, or another appropriate office or department, of the
institution to serve as the Homeless and Foster Student Liaison. end insert
The Homeless and Foster Student Liaison shall be responsible for
understanding the provisions of the federal Higher Education Act
pertaining to begin delete independent student status and end delete financial aid eligibility
of current and former foster youth and unaccompanied homeless
youth and former homeless youth, and begin insert for identifying services
available and appropriate for enrolled students who fall under
one or more of these categories. The liaison end insert shall assist these
students in applying for and receiving federal and state financial
begin delete aid. end delete begin insert aid and available services. end insert

(2) Inform current and prospective students of the institution
about student financial aid and other assistance available to current
and former homeless youth and current and former foster youth,
including their eligibility as independent students under Section
1087vv of the federal Higher Education Act, as that section read
on December 31, 2015.

(b) The Regents of the University of California are requested
to adopt policies that are, to the extent that is feasible, equivalent
to the provisions of subdivision (a).

(c) The definitions of foster youth, former foster youth, homeless
youth, and former homeless youth in Section 66025.9 shall apply
to this section.

SEC. 4.  

Section 68084.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

68084.5.  

A student who currently resides in California and is
19 years of age or under at the time of enrollment begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert be
entitled to resident classification until he or she has resided in the
state the minimum time necessary to become a resident if begin insert it is
verified that end insert he or she has been determined at any time during the
two years immediately preceding the residency classification
determination to be homeless as that term is defined in
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section
66025.9.

SEC. 5.  

Section 69514.5 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

69514.5.  

(a) The Community College Student Financial Aid
Outreach Program is hereby established. The commission shall,
in consultation with the office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, develop and administer this program for the
purpose of providing financial aid training to high school and
community college counselors and begin delete advisors end delete begin insert advisers end insert who work
with students planning to attend or attending a community college.
This training shall also address the specific needs of all of the
following:

(1) Community college students intending to transfer to a
four-year institution of higher education.

(2) Foster youth, as defined in Section 66025.9.

(3) Homeless youth and former homeless youth, as defined in
Section 66025.9.

(4) Students with disabilities.

(b) The program shall provide specialized information on
financial aid opportunities available to community college students,
with a particular focus on students who plan to transfer to a
four-year college or university. The commission shall work in
collaboration with the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges and other segments of higher education to develop and
distribute this specialized information to assist community college
students who are planning to transfer to a four-year college or
university. Each year, the program shall offer financial aid
workshops for high school and community college counselors,
targeted for students planning to attend a community college or to
transfer from a community college to a four-year institution of
higher education. The program shall assist community college
counselors in conducting student and family workshops that
provide general information about financial aid and technical
assistance in completing financial aid forms.

(c) The program shall concentrate its efforts on high schools
and community colleges that are located in geographic areas that
have a high percentage of low-income families.

SEC. 6.  

Section 69561 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

69561.  

(a) The Student Opportunity and Access Program is
administered by the Student Aid Commission.

(b) The Student Aid Commission may apportion funds on a
progress payment schedule for the support of projects designed to
increase the accessibility of postsecondary educational
opportunities for any of the following elementary and secondary
school pupils:

(1) Pupils who are from low-income families.

(2) Pupils who would be the first in their families to attend
college.

(3) Pupils who are from schools or geographic regions with
documented low-eligibility or college participation rates.

(4) Pupils who are homeless youth or former homeless youth,
as defined in Section 66025.9.

(c) These projects shall primarily do all of the following:

(1) Increase the availability of information for these pupils on
the existence of postsecondary schooling and work opportunities.

(2) Raise the achievement levels of these pupils so as to increase
the number of high school graduates eligible to pursue
postsecondary learning opportunities.

(d) Projects may assist community college students in
transferring to four-year institutions, to the extent that project
resources are available.

(e) Projects may provide assistance to low-income fifth and
sixth grade pupils and their parents in order to implement outreach
efforts designed to use the future availability of financial assistance
as a means of motivating pupils to stay in school and complete
college preparatory courses.

(f) Projects may provide assistance to low-income middle and
high school pupils and their parents in order to implement outreach
efforts designed to use the future availability of financial assistance
as a means of motivating pupils to stay in school by promoting
career technical education public awareness. Projects shall promote
the value of career technical education, available career programs
in public schools and postsecondary segments with sequenced
courses beginning in high school and continuing into postsecondary
education, and the resulting career opportunities.

(g) Each project shall be proposed and operated through a
consortium that involves at least one secondary school district
office, at least one four-year college or university, at least one
community college, and at least one of the following agencies:

(1) A nonprofit educational, counseling, or community agency.

(2) A private vocational or technical school accredited by a
national, state, or regional accrediting association recognized by
the United States Department of Education.

(h) The commission, in awarding initial project grants, shall
give priority to proposals developed by more than three eligible
agencies. Projects shall be located throughout the state in order to
provide access to program services in rural, urban, and suburban
areas.

(i) The governing board of each project, comprising at least one
representative from each entity in the consortium, shall establish
management policy, provide direction to the project director, set
priorities for budgetary decisions that reflect the specific needs of
the project, and assume responsibility for maintaining the required
level of matching funds, including solicitations from the private
sector and corporate sources.

(j) Prior to receiving a project grant, each consortium shall
conduct a planning process and submit a comprehensive project
proposal to include, but not be limited to, the following
information:

(1) The agencies participating in the project.

(2) The pupils to be served by the project.

(3) The ways in which the project will reduce duplication and
related costs.

(4) The methods for assessing the project’s impact.

(k) Each project shall include the direct involvement of
secondary school staff in the daily operations of the project, with
preference in funding to those projects that effectively integrate
the objectives of the Student Opportunity and Access Program
with those of the school district in providing services that are
essential to preparing pupils for postsecondary education.

(l) Each project shall maintain within the project headquarters
a comprehensive pupil-specific information system on pupils
receiving services through the program in grades 11 and 12 at
secondary schools within the participating districts. This
information shall be maintained in a manner consistent with the
law relating to pupil records.

(m)  At least 30 percent or the equivalent of each project grant
shall be allocated for stipends to peer advisers and tutors who meet
all of the following criteria:

(1) Work with secondary school pupils.

(2) Are currently enrolled in a college or other postsecondary
school as an undergraduate or graduate student.

(3) Have demonstrated financial need for the stipend.

(n) Each project should work cooperatively with other projects
in the program and with the commission to establish viable student
services and sound administrative procedures and to ensure
coordination of the activities of the project with existing
educational opportunity programs. The Student Aid Commission
may develop additional regulations regarding the awarding of
project grants and criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the
individual projects.

SEC. 7.  

Section 76300 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

76300.  

(a) The governing board of each community college
district shall charge each student a fee pursuant to this section.

(b) (1) The fee prescribed by this section shall be forty-six
dollars ($46) per unit per semester, effective with the summer term
of the 2012 calendar year.

(2) The board of governors shall proportionately adjust the
amount of the fee for term lengths based upon a quarter system,
and also shall proportionately adjust the amount of the fee for
summer sessions, intersessions, and other short-term courses. In
making these adjustments, the board of governors may round the
per unit fee and the per term or per session fee to the nearest dollar.

(c) For the purposes of computing apportionments to community
college districts pursuant to Section 84750.5, the board of
governors shall subtract, from the total revenue owed to each
district, 98 percent of the revenues received by districts from
charging a fee pursuant to this section.

(d) The board of governors shall reduce apportionments by up
to 10 percent to any district that does not collect the fees prescribed
by this section.

(e) The fee requirement does not apply to any of the following:

(1) Students enrolled in the noncredit courses designated by
Section 84757.

(2) California State University or University of California
students enrolled in remedial classes provided by a community
college district on a campus of the University of California or a
campus of the California State University, for whom the district
claims an attendance apportionment pursuant to an agreement
between the district and the California State University or the
University of California.

(3) Students enrolled in credit contract education courses
pursuant to Section 78021, if the entire cost of the course, including
administrative costs, is paid by the public or private agency,
corporation, or association with which the district is contracting
and if these students are not included in the calculation of the
full-time equivalent students (FTES) of that district.

(f) The governing board of a community college district may
exempt special part-time students admitted pursuant to Section
76001 from the fee requirement.

(g) (1) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for
any student who meets all of the following requirements:

(A) Meets minimum academic and progress standards adopted
by the board of governors, which fulfill the requirements outlined
in this paragraph and paragraphs (2) to (5), inclusive. Any
minimum academic and progress standards adopted pursuant to
this section shall be uniform across all community college districts
and campuses. These standards shall not include a maximum unit
cap, and community college districts and colleges shall not impose
requirements for fee waiver eligibility other than the minimum
academic and progress standards adopted by the board of governors
and the requirements of subparagraph (B).

(B) Meets one of the following criteria:

(i) At the time of enrollment, is a recipient of benefits under the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the
Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment
Program, or a general assistance program.

(ii) Demonstrates eligibility according to income standards
established by regulations of the board of governors.

(iii) Demonstrates financial need in accordance with the
methodology set forth in federal law or regulation for determining
the expected family contribution of students seeking financial aid.

(iv) At the time of enrollment, is a homeless youth or former
homeless youth as defined in Section 66025.9.

(2) (A) The board of governors, in consultation with students,
faculty, and other key stakeholders, shall consider all of the
following in the development and adoption of minimum academic
and progress standards pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(1):

(i) Minimum uniform academic and progress standards that do
not unfairly disadvantage financially needy students in pursuing
their education.

(ii) Criteria for reviewing extenuating circumstances and
granting appeals that, at a minimum, take into account and do not
penalize a student for circumstances outside his or her control,
such as reductions in student support services or changes to the
economic situation of the student.

(iii) A process for reestablishing fee waiver eligibility that
provides a student with a reasonable opportunity to continue or
resume his or her enrollment at a community college.

(B) To ensure that students are not unfairly impacted by the
requirements of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), the board of
governors shall establish a reasonable implementation period that
commences no sooner than one year from adoption of the minimum
academic and progress standards, or any subsequent changes to
these standards, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1)
and that is phased in to provide students adequate notification of
this requirement and information about available support resources.

(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that minimum academic
and progress standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1) be implemented only as campuses develop and
implement the student support services and interventions necessary
to ensure no disproportionate impact to students based on ethnicity,
gender, disability, or socioeconomic status. The board of governors
shall consider the ability of community college districts to meet
the requirements of this paragraph before adopting minimum
academic and progress standards, or any subsequent changes to
these standards, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1).

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that a student shall
not lose fee waiver eligibility without a community college campus
first demonstrating a reasonable effort to provide a student with
adequate notification and assistance in maintaining his or her fee
waiver eligibility. The board of governors shall adopt regulations
to implement this paragraph that ensure all of the following:

(A) Students are provided information about the available
student support services to assist them in maintaining fee waiver
eligibility.

(B) Community college district policies and course catalogs
reflect the minimum academic and progress standards adopted
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and that appropriate
notice is provided to students before the policies are put into effect.

(C) A student does not lose fee waiver eligibility unless he or
she has not met minimum academic and progress standards adopted
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) for a period of no
less than two consecutive academic terms.

(5) The board of governors shall provide notification of a
proposed action to adopt regulations pursuant to this subdivision
to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature
in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a) of Section 70901.5. This notification shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following:

(A) The proposed minimum academic and progress standards
and information detailing how the requirements of paragraphs (1)
to (4), inclusive, have been or will be satisfied.

(B) How many students may lose fee waiver eligibility by
ethnicity, gender, disability, and, to the extent relevant data is
available, by socioeconomic status.

(C) The criteria for reviewing extenuating circumstances,
granting appeals, and reestablishing fee waiver eligibility pursuant
to paragraph (2).

(h) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any
student who, at the time of enrollment, is a dependent or surviving
spouse who has not remarried, of any member of the California
National Guard who, in the line of duty and while in the active
service of the state, was killed, died of a disability resulting from
an event that occurred while in the active service of the state, or
is permanently disabled as a result of an event that occurred while
in the active service of the state. “Active service of the state,” for
the purposes of this subdivision, refers to a member of the
California National Guard activated pursuant to Section 146 of
the Military and Veterans Code.

(i) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any
student who is the surviving spouse or the child, natural or adopted,
of a deceased person who met all of the requirements of Section
68120.

(j) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any
student in an undergraduate program, including a student who has
previously graduated from another undergraduate or graduate
program, who is the dependent of any individual killed in the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon or the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in
southwestern Pennsylvania, if that dependent meets the financial
need requirements set forth in Section 69432.7 for the Cal Grant
A Program and either of the following applies:

(1) The dependent was a resident of California on September
11, 2001.

(2) The individual killed in the attacks was a resident of
California on September 11, 2001.

(k) A determination of whether a person is a resident of
California on September 11, 2001, for purposes of subdivision (j)
shall be based on the criteria set forth in Chapter 1 (commencing
with Section 68000) of Part 41 of Division 5 for determining
nonresident and resident tuition.

(l) (1) “Dependent,” for purposes of subdivision (j), is a person
who, because of his or her relationship to an individual killed as
a result of injuries sustained during the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, qualifies for compensation under the federal
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (Title IV
(commencing with Section 401) of Public Law 107-42).

(2) A dependent who is the surviving spouse of an individual
killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is entitled to
the waivers provided in this section until January 1, 2013.

(3) A dependent who is the surviving child, natural or adopted,
of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, is entitled to the waivers under subdivision (j) until that
person attains 30 years of age.

(4) A dependent of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001, who is determined to be eligible by the
California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board,
is also entitled to the waivers provided in this section until January
1, 2013.

(m) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that sufficient funds
be provided to support the provision of a fee waiver for every
student who demonstrates eligibility pursuant to subdivisions (g)
to (j), inclusive.

(2) From funds provided in the annual Budget Act, the board
of governors shall allocate to community college districts, pursuant
to this subdivision, an amount equal to 2 percent of the fees waived
pursuant to subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive. From funds provided
in the annual Budget Act, the board of governors shall allocate to
community college districts, pursuant to this subdivision, an
amount equal to ninety-one cents ($0.91) per credit unit waived
pursuant to subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive. It is the intent of the
Legislature that funds provided pursuant to this subdivision be
used to support the determination of financial need and delivery
of student financial aid services, on the basis of the number of
students for whom fees are waived. It also is the intent of the
Legislature that the funds provided pursuant to this subdivision
directly offset mandated costs claimed by community college
districts pursuant to Commission on State Mandates consolidated
Test Claims 99-TC-13 (Enrollment Fee Collection) and 00-TC-15
(Enrollment Fee Waivers). Funds allocated to a community college
district for determination of financial need and delivery of student
financial aid services shall supplement, and shall not supplant, the
level of funds allocated for the administration of student financial
aid programs during the 1992-93 fiscal year.

(n) The board of governors shall adopt regulations implementing
this section.

(o) This section shall become operative on May 1, 2012, only
if subdivision (b) of Section 3.94 of the Budget Act of 2011 is
operative.

SEC. 8.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.