BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1835
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|Author: |Holden |
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|Version: |April 25, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 29, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: California Private Postsecondary Education Act of
2009: minimum operating standards: exemptions
SUMMARY
This bill provides a limited exemption from minimum operating
standards and accreditation requirements for approval by the
Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (Bureau), to
institutions that grant doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis,
provided that these institutions satisfy specified conditions,
including a requirement that all of the students hold master's
or doctoral degrees before enrolling in the institution.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Establishes the California Private Postsecondary
Education Act of 2009 (Act) until January 1, 2017, and
requires the Bureau within the Department of Consumer
Affairs to, among other things, to review, investigate and
approve private postsecondary institutions, programs and
courses of instruction pursuant to the Act and authorizes
the Bureau to take formal actions against an
institution/school to ensure compliance with the Act and
even seek closure of an institution/school if determined
necessary. The Act also provides for specified disclosures
and enrollment agreements for students, requirements for
cancellations, withdrawals and refunds, and that the Bureau
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shall administer the Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF)
to provide refunds to students affected by the possible
closure of an institution/school. (Education Code §
94800, et seq.)
2) Provides for numerous exemptions from the Act for
specific types of institutions, including, but not limited
to, an institution that is accredited by the Accrediting
Commission for Senior Colleges (ACSC) and Universities,
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), or the
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
(ACCJC). (EC § 94874)
3) Defines "accredited" to mean an institution that is
accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the
United States Department of Education (USDE).
(EC § 94813)
4) Defines an "accrediting agency" as an agency recognized
by the United States Department of Education (USDE). (EC §
94814)
5) Requires the Bureau to adopt by regulation minimum
operating standards for an institution to ensure that the
program can achieve its objective; the facilities and
instructional equipment and material are sufficient to
enable the program; the administrators and faculty are
qualified; the institution maintain written and relevant
standards for student admissions, as well as maintains a
withdrawal policy and provides refunds; gives students a
document signifying the degree or diploma awarded;
maintains records and standard transcripts; and, is
accredited by an accrediting agency or is in the process of
accreditation. (EC § 94885)
6) Requires an unaccredited institution that is approved to
operate and to offer degree programs by the Bureau prior to
January 1, 2015, to submit an accreditation plan to the
Bureau, to obtain pre-accreditation, by July 1, 2017, to
obtain accreditation, by July 1, 2020, and to comply with
various student disclosures and review requirements. (EC §
94885.1)
7) Defines "approval to operate" or "approval" to mean the
AB 1835 (Holden) Page 3
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authorization to offer to the public and to provide
postsecondary educational programs, as well as the written
document issued to an institution signifying its approval
to operate.
(EC § 94817)
8) Under the Medical Board of California (MBC), authorizes
graduates of the Southern California Psychoanalytic
Institute, the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and
Institute, the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, the
San Diego Psychoanalytic Center or institutes deemed
equivalent by the MBC who have completed clinical training
in psychoanalysis to engage in psychoanalysis as an adjunct
to teaching, training, or research and hold themselves out
to the public as psychoanalysts. (Business and Professions
Code § 2529)
9) Provides that students in those institutes may engage in
psychoanalysis under supervision, if the students and
graduates do not hold themselves out to the public by any
title or description of services incorporating the words
"psychological," "psychologist," "psychology,"
"psychometrists," "psychometrics," or "psychometry," or
that they do not state or imply that they are licensed to
practice psychology. Authorizes those students and
graduates seeking to engage in psychoanalysis to register
with MBC presenting evidence of their student or graduate
status. (Business and Professions Code § 2529)
ANALYSIS
1) This bill provides an exemption from minimum operating
standards and accreditation requirements for approval by
the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (Bureau), to
institutions that grant doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis
if and as long as, it satisfies all of the following
conditions;
a) All of the institution's students hold master's
or doctoral degrees before
they enroll in the institution.
b) All of the institution's students, other than
research students regulated by
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the Medical Board of California, hold a valid
professional license authorizing the individual to
practice psychotherapy that remains valid during their
enrollment and carry current malpractice insurance in
their respective fields.
c) The institution does not accept federal student
aid.
d) The institution is a nonprofit entity.
e) 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.
2) Sunsets the exemption July 1, 2021
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. Current law requires the Bureau for
Private Postsecondary Education (Bureau) to adopt by
regulation minimum operating standards and imposes
accreditation requirements for certain institutions. The
author notes, "That the 2014 reforms of the Private
Postsecondary Education Act (Act) provided certain
exemptions for graduate programs primarily aimed at
licensed professionals in California. However, several
psychoanalysis non-profit professional postgraduate
programs received a notice of noncompliance for not meeting
the national accreditation requirement. Because of the
relatively small nature of the training programs and their
states as providers of continuing education, there is no
national accreditation body for these programs." This bill
provides a limited exemption only from minimum operating
standards and accreditation requirements for approval by
the Bureau, specifically to institutions that grant
doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis thereby allowing the
institutions to continue to operate under the specified
conditions.
2) California Private Postsecondary Education Act (Act). The
state's program for regulation of private postsecondary and
vocational education institutions has historically been
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plagued with problems. During the late 1980's, California
developed a reputation as the "diploma mill capital of the
world."
After numerous legislative attempts to remedy the laws and
structure governing regulation of private postsecondary
institutions, AB 48 (Portantino, Chapter 310, Statutes of
2009) was enacted to establish the California Private
Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 (Act), which took
effect January 1, 2010. The Act provided the regulatory
framework for oversight of private postsecondary
educational institutions operating with a physical presence
in California.
The Act requires all unaccredited colleges in California to
be approved by the Bureau, and all nationally accredited
colleges to comply with numerous student protections. It
also establishes prohibitions on false advertising and
inappropriate recruiting. The Act requires disclosure of
critical information to students such as program outlines,
graduation and job placement rates, and license examination
information, and ensures colleges justify those figures.
The Act also guarantees
students can complete their educational objectives if their
institution closes its doors while providing the Bureau
with enforcement powers necessary to protect consumers.
In 2014, SB 1247 (Lieu, Chapter 840, Statutes of 2014)
amended the Act to, among other things address concerns
about the ongoing approval by the Bureau of unaccredited
institutions offering degrees as these institutions are
unlikely to be recognized by accredited institutions for
purpose of transfer, or by many employers. The Act now
requires degree granting institutions to be accredited by
an agency recognized by the United States Department of
Education (USDE) or if no programmatic accreditation is
available, to seek regional accreditation by the WASC
Senior College and University Commission by July 1, 2020.
3) What is accreditation? Accreditation is a baseline measure
used to determine academic quality for educational or
professional institutions and programs. Accrediting
agencies are private organizations that establish operating
standards for educational or professional institutions and
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programs, determine the extent to which the standards are
met, and publicly announce their findings. Under federal
law, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) establishes
the general standards for accreditation agencies and is
required to publish a list of recognized accrediting
agencies that are deemed reliable authorities on the
quality of education provided by their accredited
institutions. There are three basic types of
accreditation:
a) Regional Accreditation: There are six
USDE-recognized regional accrediting agencies. Each
regional accreditor encompasses public, the vast
majority of non-profit private (independent), and some
for-profit postsecondary educational institutions in
the region it serves. California's regional
accrediting agency is separated into two commissions:
the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior
Colleges (ACCJC) and the Senior College and University
Commission (WASC-Sr.).
b) National Accreditation: National accreditation
is not based on geography, but more focused to
evaluate specific types of schools and programs.
National accreditation is designed to allow
nontraditional colleges (trade schools, religious
schools, certain online schools) to be compared
against similarly designed institutions. Different
standards and categories are measured, depending on
the type of institution.
c) Specialized/Programmatic Accreditation:
Offered by accrediting agencies that represent
specific fields of study, these agencies do not
accredit entire colleges but instead accredit the
programs within colleges that prepare students for the
specific field or industry. In most cases,
specialized accreditation alone does not enable
participation in state and federal financial aid
programs.
As noted, the Act requires degree granting institutions to
be accredited by an agency recognized by the USDE. This
bill exempts psychoanalysis non-profit professional
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postgraduate programs from that requirement for a limited
period of time. This bill, instead, requires psychoanalysis
institutions to seek accreditation from Accrediting Council
for Psychoanalytic Education, by July 1, 2017. Staff notes
that the Accrediting Council for Psychoanalytic Education
is not a U.S. Department of Education (USDE) accrediting
agency and it's unclear if this entity is seeking
recognition by the USDE. Absent the exemption provided by
the provisions in this bill psychoanalytic programs will be
out of compliance with the Act and would have to close.
Additionally, if the Accrediting Council for Psychoanalytic
Education does not obtain USDE recognition by the sunset
date implemented by this bill, the psychoanalytic programs
will be out of compliance with the Act at that time.
1) Bureau Sunset Review. On March 28, 2016, the Business,
Professions and Economic Development Committee (BPED
Committee) convened a joint hearing that included Senate
Education, Assembly Committees on Higher Education and
Business, Professions and Consumer Protection. The
background paper for the hearing raised various issues,
including, among other things, exemptions and the numerous
attempts to create additional exemptions for certain
institutions or programs. The background paper also notes
that many unaccredited degree-granting institutions have
contacted the Committees, citing opposition to the
requirement to obtain accreditation.
2) Exemption solely applicable to institutions serving
post-graduate students. This bill is limited to nonprofit
psychoanalysis institutions that enroll students with
master's degrees or doctoral degrees, and students must
hold a valid professional license to practice psychotherapy
or be a research candidate in psychoanalysis registered
with the Medical Board of California. The author asserts
that psychoanalysis students are older, savvier students
that hold advanced degrees and professional licenses. Staff
notes, these students would not qualify for state financial
aid programs like Cal Grant because of the post-graduate
status. Additionally, in order to claim the exemption
provided by the provisions in this bill an institution may
not accept federal student aid dollars.
3) Psychoanalytic studies. According the Accrediting Council
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for Psychoanalytic Education, "psychoanalysis is a specific
form of individual psychotherapy that aims to bring
unconscious mental elements and processes into awareness in
order to expand an individual's self-understanding, enhance
adaptation in multiple spheres of functioning, alleviate
symptoms of mental disorder, and facilitate character
change and emotional growth." According to the author,
"beginning in the early 1990's the field of psychoanalysis
began to develop within the mental health community.
Several non-profit educational institutions were
established to provide medical professional post-graduate,
continuing education training in the emerging field."
4) Double-referral. This bill was double-referred, having been
previously heard by the Senate Committee on Business,
Professions and Economic Development on June 13, 2016 and
approved on a 9-0-1 vote.
SUPPORT
Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Newport Center for Psychoanalytic Studies
Psychoanalytic Center of California
OPPOSITION
None received.
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