CHAPTER _______

An act to add and repeal Section 94885.2 of the Education Code, relating to private postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1835, Holden. California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009: minimum operating standards: exemptions.

Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary institutions in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act, among other things, requires the bureau to adopt by regulation minimum operating standards and imposes accreditation requirements for certain institutions. The act is to be repealed by its own provisions on January 1, 2017.

This bill would, until January 1, 2021, exempt institutions that grant doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis from the provisions of the act requiring the imposition of the accreditation requirements if, and as long as, these institutions satisfy specified conditions, including a requirement that all of the institution’s students hold master’s or doctoral degrees before enrollment in the institution, and a requirement that the institution has obtained accreditation from, or has submitted a self-study application to, the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education on or before July 1, 2018.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 94885.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:

94885.2.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, an institution that grants doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis shall not be subject to subdivision (b) of Section 94885, or Section 94885.1 if, and as long as, it satisfies all of the following conditions:

(1) All of the institution’s students hold master’s or doctoral degrees before they enroll in the institution.

(2) All of the institution’s students, with the exception of research candidates governed by subdivision (a) of Section 2529 of the Business and Professions Code and regulated by the Medical Board of California, hold a professional license to practice psychotherapy that remains valid throughout the period of their enrollment at the institution and carry current malpractice insurance in their respective fields.

(3) The institution does not accept federal student aid.

(4) The institution is a nonprofit entity.

(5) The institution has obtained accreditation from, or has submitted a self-study application to, the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education on or before July 1, 2018.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that date.

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