BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1835


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          GOVERNOR'S VETO


          AB  
          1835 (Holden)


          As Enrolled  August 22, 2016


          2/3 vote





           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                |Noes                |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |EDUCATION       |13-0  |Medina, Baker,      |                    |
          |                |      |Bloom, Chávez,      |                    |
          |                |      |Irwin,              |                    |
          |                |      |Jones-Sawyer,       |                    |
          |                |      |Levine, Linder,     |                    |
          |                |      |Low, Olsen,         |                    |
          |                |      |Santiago, Weber,    |                    |
          |                |      |Williams            |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |BUSINESS &      |16-0  |Salas, Brough,      |                    |
          |PROFESSIONS     |      |Baker, Bloom,       |                    |
          |                |      |Campos, Chávez,     |                    |
          |                |      |Dahle, Dodd,        |                    |
          |                |      |Eggman, Gatto,      |                    |
          |                |      |Gomez, Holden,      |                    |
          |                |      |Jones, Mullin,      |                    |








                                                                    AB 1835


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          |                |      |Ting, Wood          |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |APPROPRIATIONS  |20-0  |Gonzalez, Bigelow,  |                    |
          |                |      |Bloom, Bonilla,     |                    |
          |                |      |Bonta, Calderon,    |                    |
          |                |      |Chang, McCarty,     |                    |
          |                |      |Eggman, Gallagher,  |                    |
          |                |      |Eduardo Garcia,     |                    |
          |                |      |Chau, Holden,       |                    |
          |                |      |Jones, Obernolte,   |                    |
          |                |      |Quirk, Santiago,    |                    |
          |                |      |Wagner, Weber, Wood |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 



           -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |ASSEMBLY:  |76-0  |(May 19, 2016) |SENATE: |38-0  |(August 15,      |
          |           |      |               |        |      |2016)            |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
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          Original Committee Reference:  HIGHER ED.


          SUMMARY:  Provides an exemption for five years from  
          accreditation requirements for approval by the Bureau for  
          Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) to institutions that  
          grant doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis, if all of the  
          institution's students hold master's or doctoral degrees before  








                                                                    AB 1835


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          they enroll in the institution and if all of the institution's  
          students, other than research students regulated by the Medical  
          Board of California, hold a valid professional license  
          authorizing the individual to practice psychotherapy.


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Establishes the BPPE, under the California Private  
            Postsecondary Education Act (Act), until January 1, 2017; and,  
            provides for the oversight and regulation of private  
            postsecondary educational institutions (institutions) to  
            ensure protection of the public and students.  


          2)Requires an institution seeking BPPE approval to operate and  
            to offer a degree to either:


             a)   Be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the  
               United States Department of Education (USDE) to offer the  
               degree(s); or
             b)   Have an accreditation plan, approved by BPPE, for the  
               institution to become fully accredited within five years of  
               the BPPE issuance of a provisional approval to operate.  An  
               institution in this category must comply with specified  
               student disclosure, visiting committee review and degree  
               limitation requirements.


          3)Requires an unaccredited institution that is approved to  
            operate and to offer degree programs by BPPE prior to January  
            1, 2015, to submit an accreditation plan to BPPE, to obtain  
            pre-accreditation by July 1, 2017, to obtain accreditation by  
            July 1, 2020, and to comply with various student disclosure  
            and visiting committee review requirements.
          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, negligible fiscal impact.








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          COMMENTS:  Background.  According to BPPE, California is one of  
          few states to continue to allow unaccredited degree granting  
          programs.  This issue was raised during the 2013 Sunset Review  
          of the BPPE; according to BPPE, "unaccredited degree-granting  
          postsecondary educational institutions are a global concern.   
          Students often choose unaccredited institutions because they are  
          usually less expensive and frequently provide a degree with less  
          rigorous work on the part of the student.  While some students  
          may be aware of the possible issues associated with attending an  
          unaccredited institution and remain complacent throughout the  
          process, other students, often from developing countries, enter  
          unaccredited programs simply because they do not understand the  
          difference between approval and accreditation.  Credits and  
          degrees earned at unaccredited institutions are unlikely to be  
          recognized by licensing entities, accredited institutions for  
          purposes of transfer, or many employers.  So, while the initial  
          cost of the educational program may be less than that of an  
          accredited institution, the potential that the degree may not  
          provide the consumer the anticipated benefits is high.


          "According to BPPE, accreditation is the accepted standard for  
          educational degrees.  Accrediting bodies, as pointed out in a  
          2013 report issued by the Legislative Analyst's Office's, are  
          good at assessing the quality of educational programs and  
          gathering knowledgeable subject matter experts to assess  
          content, rigor, currency, and delivery of educational programs.   
          They have also been good at keeping up with emerging trends in  
          education and incorporating them into their reviews.  BPPE  
          specifically noted in its response to the 2013 Sunset Review  
          that "requiring accreditation would provide a much higher level  
          of consumer protection to students in the state and ensure that  
          California students would have the option of applying for  
          federal financial aid.  Additionally, by requiring accreditation  
          for approval to operate in California, the state will save money  
          by not forcing the Bureau to act in the place of an accrediting  
          body for unaccredited institutions."








                                                                    AB 1835


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          In response to these concerns and as a means of better serving  
          students while aiming to decrease the Bureau's significant  
          workload associated with reviewing unaccredited degree granting  
          institutions, SB 1247 (Lieu), Chapter 840, Statutes of 2014,  
          amended the Act to require that degree granting programs be  
          accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United  
          States Department of Education (USDE).  Institutions offering a  
          degree that seek BPPE approval are now required to either be  
          accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the USDE to  
          offer the degree(s) or have an accreditation plan, approved by  
          BPPE, for the institution to become fully accredited within five  
          years of the BPPE issuance of a provisional approval to operate.  
           SB 1247 also outlined a process for institutions that are  
          currently approved by BPPE and offer degrees to submit an  
          accreditation plan to the Bureau by July 1, 2015, to obtain  
          pre-accreditation by July 1, 2017, to obtain accreditation by  
          July 1, 2020, and to comply with various student disclosure and  
          visiting committee review requirements.  


          According to BPPE, as of August 1, 2015, there are approximately  
          107 unaccredited institutions offering degrees that are approved  
          by the Bureau or have applied for approval.  These 107  
          institutions submitted plans to the Bureau outlining how they  
          will achieve accreditation by July 1, 2020.  BPPE is currently  
          in the process of training staff to organize site visits to  
          verify that progress is being made toward accreditation.


          Purpose of this bill.  According to the author, AB 1835 is  
          attempting to assist credible, nonprofit graduate level  
          psychoanalysis programs that were inadvertently caught up in the  
          reforms targeting for-profit, low-quality, degree-granting  
          institutions.  AB 1835 will provide a narrow exception to the  
          accreditation requirements contained in SB 1247 for institutions  
          offering qualified students doctoral degrees in psychoanalysis,  
          provided that the institution seeks accreditation from the  








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          Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education before July  
          1, 2018; this exemption would sunset on January 1, 2021.


          GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:


               This bill exempts institutions that award doctoral  
               degrees in psychoanalysis from the requirement to be  
               accredited by a U.S. Department of  
               Education-recognized accreditor.


               I am not convinced that conferring special treatment  
               on this one subset of professionals is warranted, when  
               other means exist to comply with state law.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960  FN:  
          0005088