BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1889
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1889 (Portantino)
As Amended May 6, 2010
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 6-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Block, Chesbro, Fong, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano, |
| |Galgiani, Portantino, | |Bradford, |
| |Ruskin | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| | | |Davis, Monning, Ruskin, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Norby, Adams, Fuller |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
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SUMMARY : Enacts several changes to the Private Postsecondary
Education Act of 2009 (Act). Specifically, this bill :
1)Clarifies that remedies available under the former Private
Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act (Former Act)
are available to students filing legal claims after June 30,
2007, for violations that occurred while the Former Act was in
place.
2)Prohibits an unaccredited institution from offering doctoral
degrees.
3)Allows the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (Bureau)
to publish a list of eligible examinations for
ability-to-benefit (ATB) students, if the United States
Department of Education (USDE) does not have an approved
examination relevant to the specific occupational training
program.
4)Ensures students are provided until the first class day or the
seventh day after enrollment, whichever is later, to cancel a
program and receive a refund.
5)Alters the definition of "graduates employed in the field" to
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require that graduates be gainfully employed within six months
of graduation in a position for which the skills obtained
through the education and training provided by the institution
are required.
6)Clarifies that the education specialist and senior specialist
positions established within the Bureau are full-time,
permanent positions based in the Sacramento office of the
Bureau.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, ongoing special fund, fee-supported costs of around
$200,000 in travel expenses for the Sacramento-based specialist
positions. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) indicates
that, because most of the schools to be regulated by the new
bureau are located in southern California, four of the five
specialist positions would spend the majority of their time in
that region. Therefore, mandating these positions be based in
Sacramento will result in weekly travel-related costs.
COMMENTS : AB 48 (Portantino), Chapter 310, Statutes of 2009,
establishes the Act and creates the Bureau within DCA for the
purpose of regulating private postsecondary educational
institutions that provide educational services in California.
This bill would enact the following changes to the Act:
Legal remedies: The Act extended the time period for students
to file legal claims against institutions that violated the
Former Act, allowing legal claims to continue to be filed
through a normal statute of limitations. This bill would ensure
that the legal remedies provided under the Former Act are also
available to these students.
Doctoral degrees: This bill would require institutions offering
doctoral degrees to be accredited. Accreditation is a
voluntary, non-governmental peer review process utilized for the
purpose of determining academic quality of higher education
institutions and programs. The author notes that, while often
cheaper for the student, unaccredited degrees can limit a
student's career options. Some career fields and employers
require degrees from accredited colleges; this is especially
true in professions like education and health care, where
certification or licensure is a pre-requisite for employment.
Opponents argue that prohibiting unaccredited schools from
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offering doctoral level degrees would negatively impact
unaccredited schools and their students, putting a number of
schools out of business and undermining many students' education
efforts to graduate and practice in their chosen profession.
ATB tests: ATB tests are designed to measure whether students
have the basic skills needed to benefit from higher education
and succeed in the institution. Tests are approved by the USDE
and administered by an independent party. The Act required
institutions to administer ATB tests to students who have not
obtained secondary education and required students to pass the
ATB test before enrolling. According to the author, some
non-English based training programs do not have relevant
USDE-approved tests. This bill would allow the Bureau to
publish a list of eligible examinations if the USDE does not
have a relevant examination.
Employment statistics: The Act requires institutions to report
the number of graduates who are gainfully employed in the field
within six months of graduation and allows for the inclusion of
graduates who are employed in positions where the training they
received from the institution provided a "significant advantage"
to the graduate in obtaining the position. This bill would
require that the skills obtained through the education or
training provided be required for the position in order for the
job to be counted as a graduate placement. The author argues
that this change is necessary to ensure accurate job placement
reporting.
Bureau staffing: AB 48 appropriates $580,000 to the Bureau for
the purpose of funding five postsecondary education specialist
and senior specialist positions and required that those
specialist positions be included in the annual budget for the
Bureau. The author contends that the intent of this language
was to ensure that employees of the former Bureau, with
expertise in regulation and oversight of private institutions,
would have the opportunity to be placed within the new Bureau.
However, the author notes that the Administration has
established these positions as limited-term positions located
outside of the Sacramento area. This bill would clarify that
the education specialist and senior specialist positions
described in AB 48 are to be full-time, permanent positions
housed in the Sacramento office of the Bureau.
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Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0004553