BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1059
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1059 (Monning)
As Amended June 21, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 36-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Higher |13-0 |Medina, Baker, Bloom, | |
|Education | |Chávez, Irwin, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | |
| | |Linder, Low, Olsen, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Veterans |7-0 |Irwin, Achadjian, | |
|Affairs | |Arambula, Daly, | |
| | |Frazier, Mathis, | |
| | |Salas | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
SB 1059
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| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood, | |
| | |Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Would authorize unaccredited law schools, as
specified, to participate in federal veteran's education
benefits. Specifically, this bill:
1)Would authorize an institution, which obtains and provides
evidence to the California State Approving Agency for
Veteran's Education (CSAAVE) of accreditation from the
Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE), to receive approval from
CSAAVE for participation in Title 38 veteran's education
benefits, provided the institution does both of the following:
a) Provides disclosures to applicants of the school of the
institution's admissions data, tuition, fees, financial
aid, conditional scholarships, refund policies, average
class size of each required course, number of clinical
offerings, number of full-time and part-time faculty,
technically trained librarians, administrators, enrollment
data, bar passage data, and employment outcomes for
graduates, as defined.
b) Is in compliance with all applicable CSAAVE rules and
regulations and is in good standing with the CBE.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the CBE of the State Bar of California to be
responsible for the approval, regulation, and oversight of
degree-granting law schools, as specified; and provides, among
other outlined requirements, a person that is authorized to
practice law in California to complete an educational
component, which can be met through any of the following
(Business and Professions Code 6060 et. seq.):
a) Receipt of a juris doctor degree or a bachelor of laws
degree by a law school accredited by the CBE or by the
American Bar Association (ABA).
b) Studied law diligently and in good faith for at least
four years in any of the following manners:
i) In a law school that is authorized or approved to
confer professional degrees and requires classroom
attendance of its students for a minimum of 270 hours a
year.
ii) In a law office in this state and under the personal
supervision of a member of the State Bar of California
who is, and for at least the last five years continuously
has been, engaged in the active practice of law. It is
the duty of the supervising attorney to render any
periodic reports to the examining committee as the
committee may require.
iii) In the chambers and under the personal supervision
of a judge of a court of record of this state. It is the
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duty of the supervising judge to render any periodic
reports to the examining committee as the committee may
require.
iv) By instruction in law from a correspondence law
school authorized or approved to confer professional
degrees by this state, which requires 864 hours of
preparation and study per year for four years.
v) By any combination of the aforementioned methods.
2)Requires CSAAVE, a federally funded agency that operates under
an annual reimbursement contract with the United States
Veteran's Affairs (VA), to review, evaluate and approve
educational and training programs for veteran's benefits.
Among other requirements for approval by CSAAVE, California
law requires an institution which grants academic degrees to
be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the
United States Department of Education (USDE). (Education
Code Sections 67100, 67101, and 67102).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor fiscal impact to CSAAVE.
COMMENTS: Background. In response to concerns that
unscrupulous for-profit colleges were targeting veteran students
in order to access federal Title 38 education benefits, and
leaving students with high debt levels and low-value degrees or
certificates, the Legislature enacted AB 2099 (Frazier), Chapter
676, Statutes of 2014.
AB 2099 required colleges approved by CSAAVE to 1) be accredited
by an accrediting agency recognized by the USDE, if the
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institution grants academic degrees; 2) disclose information
regarding licensure examination passage rates to prospective
students, if applicable; and, 3) to be approved by the Bureau
for Private Postsecondary Education (thereby making their
students eligible for a series of consumer protections,
including disclosures, complaint resolution, and access to a
tuition recovery fund) if the institution is a for-profit
college.
Purpose of this bill. According to the author, most law schools
in California are approved by the ABA, which is a
USDE-recognized accrediting agency. Due to the cost-prohibitive
nature of ABA's approval requirements, 19 law schools in
California, both non-profit and for-profit, have instead opted
to become accredited by the CBE. According to the author,
CBE-accredited law schools tend to attract a different student
population, including older, working students, students with
families, or those seeking a second career and require part-time
night courses in order to achieve a juris doctorate. The author
notes, as further outlined below, CBE-accreditation provides for
review and oversight of quality standards. CBE, however, is not
recognized by the USDE, and therefore CBE-accredited
institutions do not met the CSAAVE accreditation requirements
established in AB 2099. This bill would authorize
CBE-accredited law schools to be approved by CSAAVE for purposes
of Title 38 veterans' education benefits.
CBE requirements and reporting. CBE-accreditation of law
schools is governed by Division 2, Accredited Law School Rules,
of Title 4, the Admissions and Educational Standards. These
Standards and their implementing Guidelines provide for the
governance, administration, curriculum requirements, and
academic and admission policies with which a school must comply.
Additionally, the CBE reports data regarding bar examination
outcomes, including by institution. According to CBE, for the
July 2015 bar examination, the most recent term for which data
is available, pass-rate for CBE-accredited institutions was
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13.4%, compared to 59.8% for institutions approved by the ABA.
Analysis Prepared by:
Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN:
0003778