BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1711
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1711
(McCarty and Medina) - As Introduced January 26, 2016
SUBJECT: University of California: nonresident student
enrollment
SUMMARY: Revises provisions governing the nonresident tuition
at the University of California (UC). Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, as a condition of receipt of Budget Act funds, UC to
comply with the following:
a) Prohibits the percentage of undergraduate nonresident
students enrolled at UC systemwide from exceeding 15.5% of
total undergraduate student enrollment;
b) Until July 1, 2021, prohibits any UC campus at which
undergraduate nonresident enrollment exceeds 15.5% from
enrolling new undergraduate nonresident students; and,
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c) Requires not less than 50% of the revenues in excess of
the marginal cost of instruction from undergraduate
nonresident enrollment to be directed to fund increased
enrollment of undergraduate resident students at all
campuses serving undergraduates.
2)Requires UC to annually publish a report that includes, but is
not necessarily limited to, all of the following information:
a) The undergraduate nonresident tuition and fee level
established at each campus;
b) The amount of revenues generated by undergraduate
nonresident enrollment at each campus;
c) The method by which these revenues were distributed
among the various UC campuses; and,
d) For each campus, the purposes for which these revenues
were expended, including, but not limited to, the number of
California resident undergraduate students admitted
pursuant to the aforementioned requirements.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Requires that a student classified as a nonresident pay
nonresident tuition. Current law authorizes both the UC and
the California State University (CSU) to establish nonresident
student tuition policies and methodologies to be developed by
each institution's governing body. The annual fee rate is
prohibited from falling below the marginal cost of instruction
and the rates at comparison institutions, as identified by the
California Postsecondary Education Commission, must be
considered. (Education Code Sections 68050-68052)
2)Establishes UC as a public trust and confers the full powers
of the UC upon the UC Regents. The Constitution establishes
that the UC is subject to legislative control only to the
degree necessary to ensure the security of its funds and
compliance with the terms of its endowments. Judicial
decisions have held that there are three additional areas in
which there may be limited legislative intrusion into
university operations: authority over the appropriation of
state moneys; exercise of the general police power to provide
for the public health, safety and welfare; and, legislation on
matters of general statewide concern not involving internal
university affairs. (Constitution of California, Article IX,
Section 9)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, there
has been a growing trend at UC to enroll more out of state and
international students (nonresidents) at the expense of
California students (residents). The author argues that the
main reason for this shift in enrollment is due to tuition and
fee revenues. As of the 2015-16 academic year, tuition and fees
for nonresidents is $38,108 and for resident students is $13,400
a year. All additional revenue derived from out of state
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students stays with the local campus. The author points to
recent enrollment numbers, in the fall of 2015, UC admitted
1,600 fewer resident freshmen compared to fall 2014, and
increased nonresident enrollment by 4,700. According to the
author, without the ratio and budgetary language as proposed in
this bill, the UC will continue to grow its non-resident student
population at the expense of resident Californians.
Background. Historically, the state provided UC (and CSU) with
funding each year to support enrollment growth. Enrollment
targets were generally set by using forecasts for high school
graduation rates and the overall population of 18- to
24-year-olds, and through negotiation with the segments as to an
appropriate per-student amount of funding, referred to as the
marginal cost. The most recent marginal cost rate for UC is
approximately $10,000 for each additional student. Due to
recession-era budget cuts and current administration preference,
enrollment targets have been eliminated from the budget. No
enrollment targets have been included in the past two Budget
Acts.
The 2015-16 Budget Act provides UC incentive funding of $25
million General Fund if UC increases enrollment by 5,000
California undergraduate students by 2016-17. UC was also
directed to use financial aid previously awarded to nonresident
students ($36.8 million in 2014-15) to support increased
enrollment of California students. While the Fall 2015
enrollment data shows a slight drop in California resident
undergraduate enrollment, UC has indicated it intends to meet
the Budget Act requirement and increase California undergraduate
enrollment by 10,000 students over the next three academic
years.
The state has traditionally considered only resident students
when determining enrollment for UC because the state does not
provide funding for nonresident students. Current law allows UC
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to set nonresident enrollment levels and fees, requiring that
nonresident fees, at minimum, cover marginal costs. UC policy
also allows campuses to keep the extra revenue generated by
nonresident tuition. Thus, campuses have a major incentive to
admit and enroll more nonresident students. UC increased
nonresident tuition for 2015-16; undergraduate nonresidents now
pay $24,708 more than California students in tuition.
In Fall 2015, systemwide, California freshman admissions were
reduced by 2.1% (1,319 students) from 2014 while nonresident
admissions increased by 13.2% (3,513) from 2014.
Nonresident students received 34% of offers at UC Berkeley, 41%
at UCLA, 39% at UC San Diego and 35% at UC Davis. Fall 2015
enrollment figures show that UC admitted 1,319 fewer California
freshmen, but increased (new and continuing) nonresident
enrollments by about 4,700 systemwide (new nonresidents grew
1,182).
While UC has sought to limit nonresident enrollment at the
Berkeley and UCLA, other UC campuses have significantly
increased nonresident student numbers. The Davis, Irvine, San
Diego and Santa Cruz campuses all report significant increases
in nonresident admissions during the past three years.
Nonresidents are currently 15.5% of undergraduate enrollments.
Concerns over nonresident growth. On August, 26, 2015, the
Assembly Higher Education Committee and the Assembly Budget
Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance held a joint oversight
hearing to review nonresident student enrollment at UC.
Testimony was presented by Ozan Jacquette, assistant professor
at the University of Arizona, College Of Education, and coauthor
of the working paper "Tuition rich, mission poor: Nonresident
enrollment and the changing proportions of low-income and
underrepresented minority students at public research
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universities," (Tuition Rich). According to Jacquette,
increases in nonresident enrollment generate more tuition
revenue and increase academic profiles. However, nonresident
students are more likely to come from high-income families and
less likely to be Black or Latino. Jacquette notes that
increases in nonresident enrollment may exacerbate access
inequalities.
UC concerns. UC has issued a letter of deep concern and notes,
"last year, President Napolitano directed that nonresident
enrollment remain flat at UC Berkeley and UC Los Angeles. The
University will again limit nonresidents at UC Berkeley and UCLA
for 2016-17 and will also impose a limit at UC San Diego for the
first time. However, the 15.5 percent limit proposed in this
legislation would require reductions in nonresident enrollment
at those campuses as well as UC Irvine. The University would
have to reduce nonresident enrollment at those four campuses by
a collective 4,591 students at a total tuition revenue loss of
$179 million-a significant sum that would impair our ability to
provide a quality educational experience for California
students."
Proposed Amendments.
1)UC nonresident enrollment limitation. This bill would
prohibit the systemwide undergraduate nonresident enrollment
from exceeding 15.5% of total undergraduate student enrollment
and prohibit any campus at which nonresident enrollment
exceeds 15.5% from enrolling new nonresidents. Currently UC
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Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles and UC San Diego are above
the 15.5% rate.
The author has agreed to accept amendments to allow any campus
at which nonresident enrollment exceeds 15.5% to enroll the
same number of new nonresident students that it did in
2015-16.
2)Funding directed toward California resident access. This bill
would require, of the revenue generated from undergraduate
nonresident enrollment (about $36,000), in excess of the cost
of instruction (about $22,000), 50% to be used to support
enrollment of resident students at all UC undergraduate
campuses (approximately $7,000 per nonresident).
The author has agreed to accept amendments to provide for a
phase-in of this requirement. Under this phase-in, the
requirement would begin in 2017-18 and apply only to new
undergraduate nonresident enrollments.
3)Budget cut set aside. Currently the bill does not provide for
an exception to the nonresident ratios and limitations when
necessary to address fiscal imbalance.
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The author has agreed to accept an amendment to specify that
the nonresident enrollment ratio and limitation shall not be
enforced in any budget year where the annual budget has
provided the UC less funding as was provided in the prior
year.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Federation of Teachers
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960
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