BILL NUMBER: SB 410 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Beall
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend Section 94874.7 Sections
94928 and 94929 of the Education Code, relating to private
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 410, as amended, Beall. California Private Postsecondary
Education Act of 2009: exemptions 2009 .
Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act
of 2009, provides, among other things, for student protections and
regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state.
The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education
within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
The act requires an institution to annually report to the bureau
specified information regarding completion rates and license
examination passage rates, among other things, and to publish that
information on its School Performance Fact Sheet. The act defines
numerous terms for purposes of this reporting requirement, including
defining "graduates" to mean students who complete a program within
100% of the published program length.
This bill would add the classification of "on-time graduates" with
this same meaning, for purposes of a completion rate calculation,
and would redefine the term "graduate" to mean an individual who has
been awarded a degree or diploma.
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 requires
the bureau to establish, by regulation, a process pursuant to which
an institution that is exempt from the act may request and obtain
from the bureau verification that the institution is exempt.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the provision
requiring the bureau to establish that verification process.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 94928 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
94928. As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Cohort population" means the number of students that began a
program on a cohort start date.
(b) "Cohort start date" means the first class day after the
cancellation period during which a cohort of students attends class
for a specific program.
(c) "Graduates" "On-time graduates"
means the number of students who complete a program within 100
percent of the published program length. An institution may
separately state completion information for students completing the
program within 150 percent of the original contracted time, but that
information may not replace completion information for students
completing within the original scheduled time. Completion information
shall be separately stated for each campus or branch of the
institution.
(d) "Graduates available for employment" means the number of
graduates minus the number of graduates unavailable for employment.
(e) (1) "Graduates employed in the field" means graduates who are
gainfully employed in a single position for which the institution
represents the program prepares its graduates ,
beginning within six months after a student completes the
applicable educational program. For occupations for which the state
requires passing an examination, the period of employment shall begin
within six months of the announcement of the examination results for
the first examination available after a student completes an
applicable educational program.
(2) The bureau shall define by July 1, 2014, specific measures and
standards for determining whether a student is gainfully employed in
a full-time or part-time position for which the institution
represents the program prepares its graduates, including
self-employment or conducting freelance work, and may set the
standards for the hours per week and duration of employment and
utilize any job classification methodology the bureau determines
appropriate for this purpose, including, but not limited to, the
United States Department of Labor's Standard Occupational
Classification codes.
(3) This subdivision does not prohibit the bureau from authorizing
an institution to aggregate single positions held by a graduate for
purposes of meeting the hours per week standards established by the
bureau.
(f) "Graduates unavailable for employment" means graduates who,
after graduation, die, become incarcerated, are called to active
military duty, are international students that leave the United
States or do not have a visa allowing employment in the United
States, or are continuing their education at an accredited or
bureau-approved postsecondary institution.
(g) "Students available for graduation" means the cohort
population minus the number of students unavailable for graduation.
(h) "Students unavailable for graduation" means students who have
died, been incarcerated, or called to active military duty.
SEC. 2. Section 94929 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
94929. (a) An institution shall annually report to the bureau, as
part of the annual report, and publish in its School Performance
Fact Sheet, the completion rate for each program. Except as provided
in subdivision (b), the completion rate shall be calculated by
dividing the number of on-time graduates by the number of
students available for graduation.
(b) In lieu of calculating graduation data pursuant to subdivision
(a), an institution may report graduation data reported to, and
calculated by, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System of
the United States Department of Education.
SECTION 1. Section 94874.7 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
94874.7. The bureau shall establish, by regulation, a process
pursuant to which an institution that is exempt from this chapter may
request and obtain from the bureau verification that the institution
is exempt. The bureau shall establish a reasonable fee to reimburse
the bureau's costs associated with the implementation of this
section.