AB 2908, Committee on Higher Education. Postsecondary education: omnibus.
(1) Existing law requires the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing boards of postsecondary educational institutions receiving public funds for student financial assistance to require the appropriate officials at each campus to compile records of specified crimes and noncriminal acts reported to campus police, campus security personnel, campus safety authorities, or designated campus authorities and transmit a report containing a compilation of that information to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
This bill would repeal the requirement that the information be reported to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
(2) The Cal Grant Program establishes the Cal Grant A and Cal Grant B Entitlement awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal Grant C award, and the Cal Grant T award under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. As part of these eligibility requirements, existing law requires the commission to require that a grade point average be submitted to it electronically for all grade 12 pupils at public schools, including charter schools, each academic year, except for those pupils who, after being notified by October 15 of their grade 12 academic year, have opted out of being deemed a Cal Grant applicant.
This bill would specify that the grade point averages for grade 12 pupils are to be submitted by October 1 of each academic year, and would require that pupils be notified by January 1 of their grade 11 academic year so that they can opt out. To the extent that these provisions would impose new duties on local educational agencies and community college districts, they would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(3) Existing law requires the Legislative Analyst’s Office to submit a report, containing specified information, to the Legislature on or before April 1, 2015, and a report with more limited information each odd year thereafter, regarding outcomes of the Cal Grant C program.
This bill would require that the report to be submitted on or before April 1, 2018, include all of the information required in the April 1, 2015, report. The bill would require the Student Aid Commission, instead of the Legislative Analyst’s Office, to submit a report with the more limited information on or before April 1, 2020, and on or before April 1 of each even-numbered year thereafter.
The bill would also make conforming changes and connect a cross-reference.
(4) Existing law requires the Legislative Analyst, on or before October 1, 2017, to submit a status update to the Legislature regarding the California State University’s implementation of specified provisions of law and an assessment of the extent to which the online programs of the California State University are operating in a manner consistent with legislative intent and statutory requirements.
This bill would make the deadline for that status update on or before January 1, 2018.
(5) 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.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 66028.6 of the Education Code is amended to read:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, commencing with the 2012-13 academic year, the regents and the trustees shall annually provide the Legislature, by February 1 of each year, with detailed information regarding expenditures of revenues derived from student fees and uses of institutional financial aid, and shall provide information regarding the systemwide average total cost of attendance per student. For purposes of meeting the requirements of this section, the regents and the trustees may include this information in their respective annual reports on institutional financial aid pursuant to Section 66021.1.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the regents and trustees shall each submit a report to the Legislature, by March 1 of each year, describing their respective institution’s compliance with the policies set forth in this article.
(c) A report submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
Section 67380 of the Education Code is amended to read:
(a) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (6), the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of any postsecondary educational institution receiving public funds for student financial assistance shall do all of the following:
(1) Require the appropriate officials at each campus within their respective jurisdictions to compile records of both of the following:
(A) All occurrences reported to campus police, campus security personnel, or campus safety authorities of, and arrests for, crimes that are committed on campus and that involve violence, hate violence, theft, destruction of property, illegal drugs, or alcohol intoxication.
(B) All occurrences of noncriminal acts of hate violence reported to, and for which a written report is prepared by, designated campus authorities.
(2) Require any written record of a noncriminal act of hate violence to include, but not be limited to, the following:
(A) A description of the act of hate violence.
(B) Victim characteristics.
(C) Offender characteristics, if known.
(3) (A) Make the information concerning the crimes compiled pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) available within two business days following the request of any student or employee of, or applicant for admission to, any campus within their respective jurisdictions, or to the media, unless the information is the type of information exempt from disclosure pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 6254 of the Government Code, in which case the information is not required to be disclosed. Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 6254 of the Government Code, the name or any other personally identifying information of a victim of any crime defined by Section 243.4, 261, 262, 264, 264.1, 273a, 273d, 273.5, 286, 288, 288a, 289, 422.6, 422.7, or 422.75 of the Penal Code shall not be disclosed without the permission of the victim, or the victim’s parent or guardian if the victim is a minor.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph and subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), the campus police, campus security personnel, and campus safety authorities described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) shall be included within the meaning of “state or local police agency” and “state and local law enforcement agency,” as those terms are used in subdivision (f) of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(4) Require the appropriate officials at each campus within their respective jurisdictions to prepare, prominently post, and copy for distribution on request, a campus safety plan that sets forth all of the following: the availability and location of security personnel, methods for summoning assistance of security personnel, any special safeguards that have been established for particular facilities or activities, any actions taken in the preceding 18 months to increase safety, and any changes in safety precautions expected to be made during the next 24 months. For purposes of this section, posting and distribution may be accomplished by including relevant safety information in a student handbook or brochure that is made generally available to students.
(5) Require the appropriate officials at each campus within their respective jurisdictions to report information compiled pursuant to paragraph (1) relating to hate violence to the governing board, trustees, board of directors, or regents, as the case may be. The governing board, trustees, board of directors, or regents, as the case may be, shall, upon collection of that information from all of the campuses within their jurisdiction, make a report containing a compilation of that information available to the general public on the Internet Web site of each respective institution. It is the intent of the Legislature that the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of any postsecondary educational institution receiving public funds for student financial assistance establish guidelines for identifying and reporting occurrences of hate violence. It is the intent of the Legislature that the guidelines established by these institutions of higher education be as consistent with each other as possible. These guidelines shall be developed in consultation with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the California Association of Human Relations Organizations.
(6) (A) Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 6254 of the Government Code, require any report made by a victim or an employee pursuant to Section 67383 of a Part 1 violent crime, sexual assault, or hate crime, as described in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, received by a campus security authority and made by the victim for purposes of notifying the institution or law enforcement, to be immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, disclosed to the local law enforcement agency with which the institution has a written agreement pursuant to Section 67381 without identifying the victim, unless the victim consents to being identified after the victim has been informed of his or her right to have his or her personally identifying information withheld. If the victim does not consent to being identified, the alleged assailant shall not be identified in the information disclosed to the local law enforcement agency, unless the institution determines both of the following, in which case the institution shall disclose the identity of the alleged assailant to the local law enforcement agency and shall immediately inform the victim of that disclosure:
(i) The alleged assailant represents a serious or ongoing threat to the safety of students, employees, or the institution.
(ii) The immediate assistance of the local law enforcement agency is necessary to contact or detain the assailant.
(B) The requirements of this paragraph shall not constitute a waiver of, or exception to, any law providing for the confidentiality of information.
(C) This paragraph applies only as a condition for participation in the Cal Grant Program established pursuant to Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42.
(b) Any person who is refused information required to be made available pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) may maintain a civil action for damages against any institution that refuses to provide the information, and the court shall award that person an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) if the court finds that the institution refused to provide the information.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Hate violence” means any act of physical intimidation or physical harassment, physical force or physical violence, or the threat of physical force or physical violence, that is directed against any person or group of persons, or the property of any person or group of persons because of the ethnicity, race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or political or religious beliefs of that person or group.
(2) “Part 1 violent crime” means willful homicide, forcible rape, robbery, or aggravated assault, as defined in the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(3) “Sexual assault” includes, but is not limited to, rape, forced sodomy, forced oral copulation, rape by a foreign object, sexual battery, or the threat of any of these.
(d) This section does not apply to the governing board of a private postsecondary educational institution receiving funds for student financial assistance with a full-time enrollment of less than 1,000 students.
(e) This section shall apply to a campus of one of the public postsecondary educational systems identified in subdivision (a) only if that campus has a full-time equivalent enrollment of more than 1,000 students.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, this section shall not apply to the California Community Colleges unless and until the Legislature makes funds available to the California Community Colleges for the purposes of this section.
Section 69432.9 of the Education Code is amended to read:
(a) A Cal Grant applicant shall submit a complete official financial aid application pursuant to Section 69433 and applicable regulations adopted by the commission. Each pupil enrolled in grade 12 in a California public school, including a charter school, other than pupils who opt out as provided in subdivision (d), shall be deemed to be a Cal Grant applicant.
(b) Financial need shall be determined to establish an applicant’s initial eligibility for a Cal Grant award and a renewing recipient’s continued eligibility using the federal financial need methodology pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 69506 and applicable regulations adopted by the commission, and as established by Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. Secs. 1070 et seq.).
(1) “Expected family contribution,” with respect to an applicant or renewing recipient, shall be determined using the federal methodology pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 69506 (as established by Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. Secs. 1070 et seq.)) and applicable rules and regulations adopted by the commission.
(2) “Financial need” means the difference between the student’s cost of attendance as determined by the commission and the expected family contribution. The calculation of financial need shall be consistent with Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. Secs. 1070 et seq.).
(3) (A) The minimum financial need required for receipt of an initial and renewal Cal Grant A or C award shall be no less than the maximum annual award value for the applicable institution, plus an additional one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) of financial need.
(B) The minimum financial need required for receipt of an initial and renewal Cal Grant B award shall be no less than seven hundred dollars ($700).
(c) (1) The commission shall require that a grade point average be submitted to it for all Cal Grant A and B applicants, except for those permitted to provide test scores in lieu of a grade point average.
(2) The commission shall require that a grade point average be submitted to it electronically on a standardized form for all grade 12 pupils at public schools, including charter schools, no later than October 1 of each academic year, except for pupils who have opted out as provided in subdivision (d). Social security numbers shall not be included in the information submitted to the commission. However, if the commission determines that a social security number is required to complete the application for financial aid, the school, school district, or charter school may obtain permission from the parent or guardian of the pupil, or the pupil, if he or she is 18 years of age, to submit the pupil’s social security number to the commission.
(3) The commission shall require that each report of a grade point average include a certification, executed under penalty of perjury, by a school official, that the grade point average reported is accurately reported. The certification shall include a statement that it is subject to review by the commission or its designee.
(4) The commission shall adopt regulations that establish a grace period for receipt of the grade point average and any appropriate corrections, and that set forth the circumstances under which a student may submit a specified test score designated by the commission, by regulation, in lieu of submitting a qualifying grade point average.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislature that high schools and institutions of higher education certify the grade point averages of their students in time to meet the application deadlines imposed by this chapter.
(6) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission make available to each high school and school district a report identifying all grade 12 pupils within the high school or school district, respectively, who have and have not completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the California Dream Act Application.
(d) (1) The school district or charter school shall, no later than January 1 of a pupil’s grade 11 academic year, notify, in writing, each grade 11 pupil and, for a pupil under 18 years of age, his or her parent or guardian that, pursuant to subdivision (a), the pupil will be deemed a Cal Grant applicant unless the pupil opts out within a period of time specified in the notice, which shall not be less than 30 days. The required notice shall indicate when the school will first send grade point averages to the commission and the submission deadline of October 1. The school district or charter school shall provide an opportunity for the pupil to opt out of being automatically deemed a Cal Grant applicant.
(2) Until a pupil turns 18 years of age, only a parent or guardian may opt the pupil out. Once a pupil turns 18 years of age, only the pupil may opt himself or herself out and, if prior to the conclusion of the notice period, the pupil may opt in over the prior decision of a parent or guardian to opt out.
Section 69439 of the Education Code is amended to read:
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Career pathway” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 88620.
(2) “Economic security” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 14005 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(3) “Industry cluster” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 88620.
(4) “Long-term unemployed” means, with respect to an award applicant, a person who has been unemployed for more than 26 weeks at the time of submission to the commission of his or her application.
(5) “Occupational or technical training” means that phase of education coming after the completion of a secondary school program and leading toward recognized occupational goals approved by the commission.
(b) A Cal Grant C award shall be utilized only for occupational or technical training in a course of not less than four months. There shall be the same number of Cal Grant C awards each year as were made in the 2000-01 fiscal year. The maximum award amount and the total amount of funding shall be determined each year in the annual Budget Act.
(c) The commission may use criteria it deems appropriate in selecting students to receive grants for occupational or technical training and shall give special consideration to the social and economic situations of the students applying for these grants, giving additional weight to disadvantaged applicants, applicants who face economic hardship, and applicants who face particular barriers to employment. Criteria to be considered for these purposes shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Family income and household size.
(2) Student’s or the students’ parent’s household status, including whether the student is a single parent or child of a single parent.
(3) The employment status of the applicant and whether the applicant is unemployed, giving greater weight to the long-term unemployed.
(d) The Cal Grant C award recipients shall be eligible for renewal of their grants until they have completed their occupational or technical training in conformance with terms prescribed by the commission. A determination by the commission for a subsequent award year that the program under which a Cal Grant C award was initially awarded is no longer deemed to receive priority shall not affect an award recipient’s renewal. In no case shall the grants exceed two calendar years.
(e) Cal Grant C awards may be used for institutional fees, charges, and other costs, including tuition, plus training-related costs, such as special clothing, local transportation, required tools, equipment, supplies, books, and living expenses. In determining the individual award amounts, the commission shall take into account the financial means available to the student to fund his or her course of study and costs of attendance as well as other state and federal programs available to the applicant.
(f) (1) To ensure alignment with the state’s dynamic economic needs, the commission, in consultation with appropriate state and federal agencies, including the Economic and Workforce Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the California Workforce Investment Board, shall identify areas of occupational and technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards. The commission, to the extent feasible, shall also consult with representatives of the state’s leading competitive and emerging industry clusters, workforce professionals, and career technical educators, to determine which occupational training programs and industry clusters should be prioritized.
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the areas of occupational and technical training developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be regularly reviewed and updated at least every five years, beginning in 2012.
(B) By January 1, 2016, the commission shall update the priority areas of occupational and technical training.
(3) (A) The commission shall give priority in granting Cal Grant C awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet two of the following criteria pertaining to job quality:
(i) High employer need or demand for the specific skills offered in the program.
(ii) High employment growth in the occupational field or industry cluster for which the student is being trained.
(iii) High employment salary and wage projections for workers employed in the occupations for which they are being trained.
(iv) The occupation or training program is part of a well-articulated career pathway to a job providing economic security.
(B) To receive priority pursuant to subparagraph (A), at least one of the criteria met shall be specified in clause (iii) or (iv) of that subparagraph.
(g) The commission shall determine areas of occupational or technical training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) in consultation with the Employment Development Department, the Economic and Workforce Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and the California Workforce Investment Board using projections available through the Labor Market Information Data Library. The commission may supplement the analyses of the Employment Development Department’s Labor Market Information Data Library with the labor market analyses developed by the Economic and Workforce Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the California Workforce Investment Board, as well as the projections of occupational shortages and skills gap developed by industry leaders. The commission shall publish, and retain, on its Internet Web site a current list of the areas of occupational or technical training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f), and update this list as necessary.
(h) Using the best available data, the commission shall examine the graduation rates and job placement data, or salary data, of eligible programs. Commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, the commission shall give priority to Cal Grant C award applicants seeking to enroll in programs that rate high in graduation rates and job placement data, or salary data.
(i) (1) The commission shall consult with the Employment Development Department, the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the California Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce investment boards to develop a plan to publicize the existence of the grant award program to California’s long-term unemployed to be used by those consulting agencies when they come in contact with members of the population who are likely to be experiencing long-term unemployment. The outreach plan shall use existing administrative and service delivery processes making use of existing points of contact with the long-term unemployed. The local workforce investment boards are required to participate only to the extent that the outreach efforts are a part of their existing responsibilities under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220).
(2) The commission shall consult with the Workforce Services Branch of the Employment Development Department, the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the California Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce investment boards to develop a plan to make students receiving awards aware of job search and placement services available through the Employment Development Department and the local workforce investment boards. Outreach shall use existing administrative and service delivery processes making use of existing points of contact with the students. The local workforce investment boards are required to participate only to the extent that the outreach efforts are a part of their existing responsibilities under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220).
(j) (1) The Legislative Analyst’s Office shall submit a report to the Legislature on the outcomes of the Cal Grant C program on or before April 1, 2018. This report shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, information on all of the following:
(A) The age, gender, and segment of attendance for recipients in two prior award years.
(B) The occupational and technical training program categories prioritized.
(C) The number and percentage of students who received selection priority as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f).
(D) The extent to which recipients in these award years were successfully placed in jobs that meet local, regional, or state workforce needs.
(2) For the report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall include data for two additional prior award years and shall compare the mix of occupational and technical training programs and institutions in which Cal Grant C award recipients enrolled before and after implementation of subdivision (f).
(3) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the commission shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before April 1, 2020, and on or before April 1 of each even-numbered year thereafter, that includes the information specified in paragraph (1).
(4) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
Section 89226 of the Education Code is amended to read:
(a) On or before January 1, 2017, and on or before January 1 every two years thereafter, the trustees shall report to the Legislature key performance data on online courses as defined in Section 89225, including, but not necessarily limited to, all of the following:
(1) The number of students enrolled at each campus.
(2) Course completion rates for courses other than online courses.
(3) Completion rates for degree programs that include no online courses.
(4) Grade point average for students enrolled in online courses.
(5) The number of students cross-enrolled in online courses at a California State University campus other than the campus at which they are matriculated.
(6) Course completion rates for students enrolled in online courses.
(7) Completion rates for degree programs that include online courses.
(b) (1) On or before January 1, 2017, the trustees shall report to the Legislative Analyst the key performance data described in subdivision (a).
(2) On or before January 1, 2018, the Legislative Analyst shall submit a status update to the Legislature regarding the California State University’s implementation of the provisions of the bill that added this section and an assessment of the extent to which the online programs of the California State University are operating in a manner consistent with legislative intent and statutory requirements.
(c) Student enrollment and completion rate data included in a report to be submitted pursuant to this section shall be made available by demographics, including age, gender, and ethnicity.
(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (a) is inoperative on July 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) The report prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
Section 99161.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
(a) (1) The test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test shall provide testing accommodations to a test subject with a disability who makes a timely request to ensure that the Law School Admission Test accurately reflects the aptitude, achievement levels, or other factors that the test purports to measure and does not reflect the test subject’s disability. This paragraph does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.
(2) The process for determining whether to grant an accommodation under paragraph (1) shall be made public, and the decision whether or not to approve a request for an accommodation shall be conveyed to the requester within a reasonable amount of time. If the test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test does not approve a request for accommodation, the test sponsor shall state the reasons for the denial of the request to the requester in writing.
(3) The test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test shall establish a timely appeals process for a test subject who is denied an accommodation request. The test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test shall clearly post on the Law School Admission Test Internet Web site information regarding refund policies for individuals whose requests for accommodation are denied.
(b) Whenever a test subject has received formal testing accommodations from a postsecondary educational institution for a disability as defined in subdivision (j), (m), or (n) of Section 12926 of the Government Code, the test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test shall, consistent with existing law, give considerable weight to documentation of past modifications, accommodations, or auxiliary aids or services received by the test subject in similar testing situations when determining whether to grant an accommodation to the test subject.
(c) (1) The test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test shall not notify a test score recipient that the score of any test subject was obtained by a subject who received an accommodation pursuant to this section.
(2) The test sponsor of the Law School Admission Test shall not withhold any information that would lead a test score recipient to deduce that a score was earned by a subject who received an accommodation pursuant to this section.
(3) This subdivision does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.
(d) This section shall not be construed to limit or replace any other right or remedy that exists under state or federal law.
(e) This section shall not provide greater protections to persons with disabilities than those provided by Section 51 of the Civil Code.
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.
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