Amended in Assembly April 14, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 15, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1583

Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Medina and Rodriguez)

January 5, 2016

An act to amend Section 76300 of, and to add Section 76300.1 to, the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1583, as amended, Santiago. Community colleges: enrollment fee waiver and additional assistance.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law authorizes the establishment of community college districts under the administration of community college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at community college campuses throughout the state. Existing law requires community college district governing boards to charge students an enrollment fee of $46 per unit per semester. Existing law provides for the waiver of this fee under certain circumstances, including, among others, that the student either (1) at the time of enrollment is a recipient under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program, or a general assistance program, (2) demonstrates eligibility according to income standards established by regulation of the board of governors, or (3) demonstrates financial need in accordance with methodology set forth in federal law or regulation for determining the expected family contribution of students seeking aid.

This bill would begin delete revise some of these circumstances by raising the amount of income a student can earn and still qualify for a fee waiver to no lower than three times the current federal poverty level and by lowering end delete begin insert lower end insert the amount of unmet financial need a student needs to demonstrate to qualify for a fee waiver to at least one dollar. The bill would require the board of governors, by January 1, 2018, to ensure a fee waiver application is available to be completed and submitted electronically by students at each community college. The bill would require the board of governors to establish a need-based aid program to provide fee waiver recipients with financial resources, not to exceed $1,000 per student per year, for the purpose of offsetting a portion of the costs associated with the purchase of books, supplies, transportation, and other general living expenses. To the extent the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

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.  

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish
the California Promise to ensure more Californians have the
opportunity to access and afford community college in California.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) California’s 1960 “A Master Plan for Higher Education in
California” affirmed the state’s commitment to a system of higher
education combining exceptional quality with broad access.

(2) The California Community College system is the largest
system of higher education in the United States, offering associate
degrees and certificates in more than 175 fields to 2.1 million
students on 113 campuses.

(3) For every dollar California invests to get students into and
through college, the state receives a $4.50 net return on investment.

(4) In 2025, California faces an estimated shortage of one
million college degree and certificate holders needed to sustain
the state’s workforce.

(5) To meet the demand for college degree and certificate
holders, California has and must continue to invest significantly
in need-based financial aid for California community college
students, including the California Community Colleges Board of
Governors Enrollment Fee Waiver Program and the Cal Grant
Program.

(6) The fee waiver program offsets tuition and fees for more
than 60 percent of full-time community college students and nearly
half of all community college students, with the only requirements
being that students demonstrate financial need and meet reasonable
academic progress standards.

(7) Despite the many strengths of the fee waiver program,
eligibility is currently limited to students with a minimum need of
$1,104.

(8) Community college access and affordability are not
exclusively tied to tuition and fees; for instance, nontuition costs
such as textbooks, transportation, food, housing, and other
college-related expenses can represent more than 90 percent of
the total cost of attending community college, thereby preventing
students from successfully enrolling in and completing community
college.

(9) Although California has devoted considerable resources to
need-based aid at the California Community Colleges, not every
student with need is able to access or receive aid to offset tuition
or nontuition expenses.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure all Californians
with financial need are able to access and afford community college
in California.

SEC. 2.  

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 begin delete governors, with income
standards set no lower than three times the current federal poverty
level. end delete begin insert governors. end insert

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

(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) By January 1, 2018, the board of governors shall ensure a
fee waiver application is available to be completed and submitted
electronically by students at each community college.

SEC. 3.  

Section 76300.1 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

76300.1.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert The board of governors shall establish a
need-based aid program to provide fee waiver recipients with
financial resources, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)
per student per year, for the purpose of offsetting a portion of the
costs associated with the purchase of books, supplies,
transportation, and other general living expenses.

begin insert

(b) Eligibility for the program described in subdivision (a) shall
be determined by utilizing the student’s Free Application for
Federal Student Aid, or California Dream Act Application,
whichever applies.

end insert

SEC. 4.  

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.