BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2297|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2297
Author: Brownley (D)
Amended: 7/1/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/23/10
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Emmerson, Liu, Price,
Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 68-8, 5/3/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Community colleges: nonresident fees
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends the options available to a
local community college governing board for setting
nonresident tuition fees.
ANALYSIS : Current law authorizes a community college
district to admit nonresident students and requires that
these students be charged a tuition fee, with certain
specified exemptions. Current law requires that the
tuition fee be set by the governing board of each community
college district by February 1 of each year for the
succeeding fiscal year that specified notice of these fee
changes be provided, and that any increase in these fees be
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gradual, moderate, and predictable.
Current law prescribes a formula for the calculation of the
nonresident fee which, generally, is based upon the amount
expended by the district for the "expense of education",
adjusted by the Consumer Price Index, and divided by the
total full-time equivalent students (including nonresident
students) that attend the district in the preceding fiscal
year. Current law also authorizes a tuition fee amount not
to exceed that established by any contiguous district, and
prohibits the fee from being less than the statewide
average fee for students. Special provision is made for
the calculation of the fee by districts that have greater
than 10 percent full-time equivalent students from
non-credit courses.
This bill:
1.Expands the options available to a local community
college governing board for setting nonresident tuition
fees. More specifically it authorizes a district to:
A. Set the nonresident tuition fee at the greater of
the fee for the current year or any of the past four
years if the statewide average fee, calculated as
specified, for the succeeding fiscal year is less
than the current fiscal year or any of the prior four
fiscal years.
B. Set the nonresident tuition fee in an amount equal
to or less than the average of the nonresident
tuition fees of public community colleges of no less
than 12 states comparable to California in cost of
living, to be determined as specified.
2.Requires the additional revenue generated by the
increased nonresident tuition permitted under the changes
in existing law made by this bill to be used to expand
and enhance services to resident students.
3.Prohibits the admission of nonresident students from
coming at the expense of resident enrollment.
4.Requires the Chancellor's Office of the California
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Community Colleges to make specified data relating to
nonresident tuition available to the Legislative
Analyst's Office, and requires the LAO to include a
summary of this data in its annual analysis of the
Governor's budget proposal.
5.Makes a number of conforming changes.
Comments
Other Public Segments . Education Code Sections 68050-68052
authorizes both the University of California (UC) and the
California State University (CSU) to establish nonresident
student tuition policies and methodologies to be developed
by each institution's governing body. The annual fee rate
is prohibited from falling below the marginal cost of
instruction and the rates of comparison institutions, as
identified by the California Postsecondary Education
Commission, must be considered. In addition, school
districts are authorized to admit students from adjoining
states and the district is required to collect nonresident
tuition sufficient to reimburse the district for the total
cost of educating the pupil.
Preserving California Residents' Access . According to the
Community College Chancellor's Office of the California
Community Colleges, although current law does establish
priority enrollment for members and former members of the
Armed Forces, and establishes lower priority for special
part-time or full-time students, there is no specific
statutory provision that requires that resident students be
given priority for admission on a statewide basis.
Disturbing Unchecked Trend ? The UC Commission on the
Future recently issued its first round of recommendations
for developing a new vision for UC. These recommendations
are currently being disseminated for review and feedback
for the Academic Senate, staff, students and the public
prior to formal recommendation to the Regents in July.
Among the recommendations around funding strategies is a
proposal to increase the enrollment of nonresident
undergraduates with the possibility of adding 7,600
nonresident students as replacements for existing resident
students enrolled above the 2007-08 enrollment targets (the
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rationale being that the state provides no funds for these
"over-enrolled" students).
Similarly, the CSU Board of Trustees will hold a special
meeting on June 18 to consider a proposal for potential fee
increases. Among other things, the proposal would
eliminate the cap on nonresident tuition, with nonresident
students paying $16,257 for 30 semester units rather than
the current $11,160.
Understandably, the pressures of the state's budget
situation are compelling the public postsecondary education
segments to consider sources of revenue outside the general
fund in order to meet their needs/priorities.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/3/10)
California Community College League
Santa Monica College
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
current law provides a number of unintended benefits to
nonresidents attending California Community Colleges.
Because the formulaic statutory calculation for setting
nonresident tuition fees relies on the amount actually
expended by the community colleges, recent budget cuts have
resulted in nonresidents paying a lower amount than in
prior years, the first time reductions have occurred in the
last ten years (the state average nonresident tuition fee
has reportedly gone from $190 per unit in 2009-10 to
potentially $175 per unit in 2011-12. Additionally, there
is no mechanism for adjusting the level of benefit that
California taxpayers provide to nonresidents that allows
for parity with the level of benefit provided by comparable
states to California residents (the average nonresident fee
is reportedly $280 per unit in states with comparable costs
of living). According to the author's office, this bill
could result in additional funds which could minimize the
effect of budget cuts to the community colleges,
ostensibly, providing relief for, and benefiting,
California taxpayers and residents.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Yamada
NOES: Anderson, DeVore, Gaines, Knight, Logue, Miller,
Silva, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Furutani, Hall, John A. Perez, Vacancy
CPM:cm 8/3/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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