BILL ANALYSIS
AB 69
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
AB 69 (Duvall) - As Amended: April 2, 2009
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: enrollment growth.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU) and
requests the University of California (UC) to include specified
information pertaining to graduation and retention in their
annual enrollment reports and requires the California Department
of Finance (DOF) to base higher education enrollment projects on
the projected number of high school students who are expected to
graduate in the ensuing fiscal year. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires CSU and requests UC to include in their annual
enrollment reports, the following information for the most
recent academic year:
a) The number of undergraduate and graduate students who
graduated with a degree.
b) The number of undergraduate and graduate students who
did not continue their education from the prior academic
year and did not obtain a degree.
2)Requires DOF, prior to submission of the Governor's Budget to
the Legislature, to develop projections for UC and CSU
enrollment growth based on demographic data on the projected
growth in the number of high school students that are expected
to graduate in the ensuring fiscal year.
EXISTING LAW requires the Governor's Budget to be submitted to
the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session
in compliance with guidelines and instructions adopted by DOF.
The annual budget act includes language requiring UC and CSU to
report on the number of students enrolled in their institutions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill : According to the author,
"Yearly, UCs and CSUs release their reports on annual
enrollment. And yet, we do not receive any consistent
information regarding how many students cycle out of the
AB 69
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schools." In addition, the author states that DOF should
"develop projections based on demographic data of the number of
high school students expected to graduate in that fiscal year.
This form of funding is far more realistic as we face uncertain
economic times."
Enrollment reporting : UC and CSU provide the information
requested in this bill as part of their annual reports to DOF
under the funding agreement, or compact, they have had with the
Governor since 2004. They also provide this information to the
legislative Budget Committee staffs and the Integrated
Postsecondary Data Education System, also known as IPEDS.
Enrollment calculation : Enrollment funding is also provided per
the terms of the compact, which provides 2.5% enrollment growth
to UC and CSU every year. However, due to budget deficits, UC
and CSU have not received enrollment growth funding since the
2007-08 Budget Act. The 2.5% factor is based upon historic
growth rates at UC and CSU, as well as the enrollment growth
that DOF economists determined based on historic and long-term
demographic trends. The segments typically serve slightly more
or fewer students than budgeted because the number of eligible
applicants who choose to enroll is difficult to predict with
accuracy.
What happens when this indicator is negative ? There are many
factors that affect enrollment in postsecondary education,
including population growth, demographic changes, economic
conditions, and student preferences. As history has shown,
demand for postsecondary education is fairly constant regardless
of the number of high school graduates. By basing enrollment
growth funding on this one factor, will UC and CSU lose
enrollment growth funding in years when the number of high
school graduates declines but the segments' enrollments
increase?
Related legislation : AB 218 (Portantino), pending in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee, would establish a state
accountability framework for the purpose of biennially assessing
the collective progress of the state's system of postsecondary
education in meeting specified educational and economic goals.
AB 1182 (Brownley), set for hearing in the Assembly Higher
Education Committee, would eliminate, restructure, and
reorganize various higher education reporting requirements of
the state's public universities and colleges to provide for more
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effective, manageable, and transparent reporting to the
Legislature.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960