BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 412|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 412
Author: Glazer (D) and De León (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/16
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 8/26/16 (Pursuant to Senate
Rule 29.10)
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public postsecondary education: The California
Promise
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the California State University
Board of Trustees to develop and implement a program that
authorizes a campus to enter into a pledge with qualifying
students, as defined, to support completion of a baccalaureate
degree within four years or for transfer students within two
years, and outlines the requirements which may be included in
such a program.
Assembly Amendments replace the Senate version of the bill
relative to the biotechnology industry with provisions dealing
with student support for degree completion of a baccalaureate
degree within four years.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act and
requires California Community College (CCC) districts to
develop and grant an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) that
deems the student eligible for transfer into the California
State University (CSU), when the student meets specified
course requirements (Education Code (EC) Section 66746). The
CSU is required to guarantee admission with junior status to
any community college student who meets specified
requirements, but provides that the student is not guaranteed
admission for specific majors or campuses. (Education Code §
66747)
2) Requires the CSU and each CCC district, and requests the
University of California (UC) to give priority for
registration for enrollment to any member or former member of
the Armed Forces, as defined, who is a resident of California
and who has received an honorable discharge, a general
discharge, or an other than honorable discharge for any
academic term attended at one of these institutions within
four years of leaving state or federal active duty, if the
institution already administers a priority enrollment system.
Current law further requires that the veteran use this
benefit within 15 years of leaving state or federal active
duty and requires that these students comply with student
responsibilities established by the Student Success Act of
2012. (EC § 66025.8)
3)Requires the CSU and each CCC district, and requests the UC,
to grant priority enrollment, if the institution already
administers a priority enrollment system for registration, to
any current or former foster youth, and repeals these
provisions on January 1, 2017. (EC § 66025.9)
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This bill:
1) Establishes the California Promise for the purposes of
supporting CSU students in earning a baccalaureate degree
within four academic years of the student's first year of
enrollment or for transfer students within two academic years
of the student's first year of enrollment to the campus.
2) Defines various terms for the purpose of this bill
including, "transfer student," to mean a student who earned
an ADT from a CCC.
3) Requires the Trustees of the CSU to:
a) Develop and implement a California Promise program
that:
i) Ensures, commencing with the 2017-18 academic
year, a minimum of eight campuses have established a
California Promise program by which the campus enters
into a pledge with a first-time freshman student to
support the student in obtaining a baccalaureate degree
within four academic years.
ii) Ensures, commencing with the 2017-18 academic
year, a minimum of 15 campuses have established a
California Promise program by which the campus enters
into a pledge with a qualifying transfer student to
support the student in obtaining a baccalaureate degree
program within two academic years.
iii) Increases, commencing with the 2018-19 academic
year, to a total of 20 campuses, the number of transfer
student Promise programs.
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b) Develop application criteria, administrative
guidelines, and additional requirements, including how
campuses will measure student success, for purposes of
implementing and administering the California Promise
program.
c) Make every effort to close the achievement gap and
encourage broad participation in a California Promise
program that reflects the demographic populations served
by the campus.
d) Take into consideration the report on graduation rates
required pursuant to the Budget Act of 2016.
e) Submit a report to legislative policy and fiscal
committees by January 1, 2021, as specified.
f) Submit recommendations to the appropriate policy and
fiscal committees of the Legislature, by March 15, 2017,
regarding potential financial incentives that could
benefit students who participate in the California Promise
program.
4) Requires each College Promise program to be reviewed by a
graduation initiative advisory committee of the campus or a
committee with similar functions designated by the president
of the campus.
5) Requires support provided by a CSU campus to a California
Promise program student to include, but not necessarily be
limited to, both of the following:
a) Priority registration in coursework provided that a
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student does not qualify for priority registration under
another policy or program, as specified. The designated
advisory committee is required to consider pre-existing
priority registration policies upon implementing priority
registration under the California Promise program.
b) Academic advisement that includes monitoring academic
progress.
6) Requires a student in order to qualify for the program to be
a California resident for purposes of in-state tuition
eligibility and commit to completing at least 30 semester
units or the quarter equivalent per academic year, including
summer term units, as specified.
7) Requires a campus to guarantee participation in the program
to, at a minimum, any student who is a:
a) A low-income student, as defined.
b) A student who has graduated from a high school located
in a community that is underrepresented in college
attendance.
c) A first-generation college student.
d) A transfer student who successfully completes his or
her ADT at a community college.
8) Establishes as a condition of continued participation in a
California Promise program, as student may be required to
demonstrate both of the following:
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a) Completion of at least 30 semester units, or the
quarter equivalent, in each prior academic year.
b) Attainment of a grade point average in excess of a
standard established by the campus.
9) Declares that it is the intent of Legislature to accommodate
as many students into the program as feasible and in
consideration of available funding.
10)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2026.
11)Makes a number of related declarations and findings.
Comments
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, this bill is
intended to address the CSU's overall four-year graduation
rate, which is well below the national rate among similar
public institutions. The provisions of the bill are based on
existing programs at CSU campuses which the author asserts
are effective in improving four-year graduation rates and
two-year graduation rates for transfer students. This bill
establishes a program which, in exchange for a promise to
complete 30 units per year and maintain a grade point average
standard, would provide priority enrollment and enhanced
academic advising.
2) Similar legislation. On April 20, 2016, the Senate Education
Committee heard a similar bill, SB 1450 (Glazer), which
failed passage, by a vote of 4-2. Both SB 1450 and this bill
require the CSU to develop and implement a program that
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authorizes a campus to enter into a pledge with qualifying
students to support completion of a baccalaureate degree
within four years and offer incentives to students in
exchange for participation in that program.
However, unlike this bill, SB 1450 established various
requirements regarding systemwide fees for California Promise
students at CSU, including freezing tuition and granting
tuition waivers if students were unable to complete a degree
within the required timeframe due to unavailability of
courses. SB 1450 also imposed these same requirements on the
CCC and required the CCC Board of Governors to establish the
Promise program as well. The CCC was removed from the scope
of this bill and instead requires CSU to ensure entry into a
promise program for any CCC student who transfers with an
ADT. In addition, this bill requires a greater number of
programs (20) to be developed by the CSU.
3) Is there a problem? In its March 2016 report on State
Performance Measures for the 2014-15 academic year, the CSU
reports a cumulative four-year graduation rate for all
students of 19.1 percent in 2011. According to the 2015-16
Budget Analysis by the Legislative Analyst's Office, CSU
graduation rates have been increasing, but while 6-year
graduation rates are similar to those of other large public
masters institutions, four-year rates are significantly
lower, and only 48 percent of first year students are on
track to graduate on time.
Aside from benefitting the state through increased access and
more efficient movement of students through the CSU system,
accelerating degree completion also reduces the overall cost
of higher education for students and families. In The Real
Cost of College: Time and Credits to Degree in California,
the Campaign for College Opportunity reports that every
additional year of enrollment in college increases the total
cost by more than $26,000 in tuition, fees, books, and living
expenses, as well as more than $22,000 in lost lifetime
wages. A CSU student who takes six years to earn a
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bachelor's degree will spend an additional $58,000 more on
tuition, fees, books and other expenses, and will earn
$52,900 less, over his/her lifetime, than someone who
graduated in four years. As a result of these additional two
years, this student would incur $110,900 in extra expenses
and lost wages.
4) Existing CSU goals/strategies. In October 2014, the CSU
initiated "Graduation Initiative 2025", setting completion
goals that include, among other things, increasing the
four-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen to 24
percent and increasing the two-year graduation rate for
transfer students to 35 percent.
The strategies employed by the Chancellor's Office and
campuses to achieve these goals include, among other things,
reducing the number of units required to earn a BA/BS degree,
hiring more tenure track faculty and academic advisors, and
expanding the ADT program.
5) Existing programs? According to the CSU, four of its campuses
currently have pledge programs (Fresno, San Bernardino,
Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona) that are generally consistent
with what is proposed in the bill. While the four-year
graduation rates for program participants are much higher
than the undergraduate student populations that do not
participate in the programs, attrition rates are also high
(often times 50 percent or more). The Cal State Fullerton's
Finish in Four Scholars Program has had five cohorts of
students that graduated with four-year graduation rates that
range from 30.4 percent to 45.5 percent. The numbers of
students in these programs tend to be small. For example,
CSU San Bernardino has one of the larger programs with 620
participants, but that number represents less than four
percent of the undergraduate student population.
The CSU reports that several campuses have discontinued
similar types of programs because of low student
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participation. The CSU also noted that many students are
unable to participate in or continue with these programs
because they do no enter the CSU academically prepared, are
unable to maintain grade point average requirements, or
change their major.
6) Priority registration. This bill requires a CSU campus to
provide a California Promise program student with priority
registration in coursework provided that the student does not
qualify for priority registration under another policy or
program. In addition, the designated advisory committee is
required to consider pre-existing priority registration
policies upon implementing priority registration under the
California Promise program. It's unclear how these provisions
may be interrupted and applied considering the number of
students that are guaranteed participation in the program
under the provisions of the bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
will impose the following costs:
CSU indicates that four campuses (Fresno, Fullerton, Cal Poly
Pomona, and San Bernardino) have four-year pledge programs
similar to what is proposed in this bill for incoming
freshman. Administrative costs to replicate this model at six
additional campuses would be in the range of $450,000 to
$600,000 annually. [General Fund]
CSU also indicates that one of four campuses in the system
that has over 1,000 ADT students already has a two-year pledge
program serving these students. Costs for the two-year pledge
program at these four campuses will total $300,000 to $400,000
and for 16 additional campuses, with smaller numbers of ADT
students, will be between $300,000 and $800,000, for total
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costs of $600,000 to $1.2 million for the two-year pledge
programs. [General Fund]
Costs for the legislative reports will be about $100,000.
[General Fund]
SUPPORT: (Verified8/26/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/26/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/23/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow,
Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,
Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher,
Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Gray
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/26/16 15:11:33
**** END ****
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