BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1295
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1295 (Fuller)
As Amended July 23, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 14, 2009) |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 4, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU)
Chancellor's Office to implement articulated nursing degree
transfer pathways for Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN)
students at California Community Colleges (CCC) seeking a
Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN) at CSU prior to the
commencement of the 2012-2013 academic year, and requires the
Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) to report to the Legislature
and the Governor on the status of implementation plans by March
15, 2011.
The Senate amendments require the CSU Chancellor's Office to
implement articulated nursing degree transfer pathways between
CCC and CSU, and allow the CSU Chancellor and the CCC Chancellor
to appoint representatives from their respective institutions to
provide assistance on the implementation of the articulated
nursing degree transfer pathways.
EXISTING LAW prohibits a campus of CSU or CCC that operates a
Registered Nurse (RN) program from requiring a student who has
been admitted to that nursing program and who has already earned
a baccalaureate or higher degree from a regionally accredited
institution of higher education to take any coursework other
than that which is unique and exclusively required to earn a
nursing degree from that institution.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required the CCC
Chancellor's Office and the CSU Chancellor's Office to appoint
representatives from their respective institutions to work
collaboratively to coordinate and implement articulated nursing
degree transfer pathways prior to the commencement of the
2012-2013 academic year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
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Committee, CSU anticipates costs of approximately $200,000 to
develop the pathway, while the CCC anticipates minor and
absorbable costs. The Senate Appropriations Committee also notes
potential savings to the segments and students by eliminating
duplicative course requirements for nursing students.
COMMENTS : The California Employment Development Department
projects that the state will need approximately 240,000 RNs by
2014. According to 2007 estimates by the LAO, the supply of RNs
in 2014 will total only about 228,000. Further, California is
not keeping pace with the need for nursing faculty. According
to BRN, in 2008 there were 170 vacant faculty positions within
nursing education programs. In a 2009 report by the California
Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), CPEC concluded that
"in the absence of continuous legislative and institutional
intervention, the demand for services provided by vocational and
registered nurses over the next ten years will greatly outpace
the supply of nurses anticipated to flow from postsecondary
degree programs."
According to the author, there are significant benefits to the
state for increasing the number of BSN graduates, including
responding to industry demand for more BSN graduates, increasing
the number of RNs with broader skills, and increasing the number
of students who will ultimately go on to complete their masters
degrees in nursing and fill nursing faculty positions. It is
estimated that currently only 20% of CCC ADN students continue
on to obtain a BSN. The author notes that at CSU there is
little standardization for recognizing ADN curriculum content
and crediting a RN with an ADN for that knowledge. The lack of
a common transfer pathway results in students having to take
duplicative and/or unnecessary coursework that prolongs their
time to degree and increases degree costs to both the student
and the state. The author asserts that by streamlining the
transfer process for ADN to BSN students this bill will reduce
the time to degree for an ADN to BSN student by as much as a
year, thereby reducing state and student education costs and
ensuring more focused and appropriate coursework for BSN
students.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0002707
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