BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2382
AUTHOR: Blumenfield
AMENDED: April 12, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 23, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : California State University Doctor of Physical
Therapy degree
KEY POLICY ISSUES
Notwithstanding the Masterplan for Education, which
designates the University of California as the only
California public postsecondary education segment
authorized to award a doctoral degree, should the
California State University be authorized to award the
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)?
Should the requirements of a private professional entity be
the basis for determining the educational programs offered
by California's public postsecondary education
institutions?
Does the need to offer affordable physical therapy programs
to California residents outweigh concerns about Masterplan
principles or concerns about catering to the
interests/agendas of private professional organizations?
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the California State University (CSU)
to award a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), establishes
constraints on the funding and fees for these degree
programs, and requires their joint evaluation by the CSU,
Department of Finance (DOF) and the Legislative Analyst's
Office (LAO) by January 1, 2015, as specified.
BACKGROUND
AB 2382
Page 2
Current law provides that the primary mission of the
California State University is undergraduate and graduate
instruction through the master's degree, but authorizes the
CSU to offer joint doctoral degrees with the University of
California (UC), or with one or more independent
institutions of higher education, only as specified.
Current law, in setting forth the missions and functions of
California's public and independent institutions of higher
education provides, among other things, that UC has the
sole authority in public higher education to award the
doctoral degree in all fields of learning, except that it
may agree with the CSU to award joint doctoral degrees in
selected fields. (Education Code 66010.4)
Notwithstanding the differentiation of mission and function
of the public institutions of higher education, current law
authorizes the CSU to independently award the Doctor of
Education (Ed.D) degree focused solely on preparing
administrative leaders for California public K-14 schools.
(EC 66040-66040.7)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Authorizes the CSU to award a Doctor of Physical
Therapy (DPT), notwithstanding the Masterplan and its
differentiation of mission and function, in order to
meet specified physical therapy needs in California,
subject to compliance with the following conditions:
a) Limits the authority to award a doctorate to
the discipline of physical therapy.
b) Requires that the amount of state full-time
equivalent student (FTES) funding per student be
at the agreed upon marginal cost calculation that
the CSU receives and further:
i) Requires that FTES funding for
the new students in these
programs come from within the CSU's agreed upon
enrollment levels in the annual Budget Act.
AB 2382
Page 3
ii) Prohibits enrollment in these programs
from altering the ratio of graduate instruction
to total enrollment and diminishing the growth of
enrollment of undergraduate programs.
c) Requires that the degree be focused on
preparing physical therapists to provide health
care services, and that it be consistent with
meeting the requirements of the Commission on the
Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education
(CAPTE).
d) Affirms the authority of the California
Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) to
review, evaluate and make recommendations
relating to any and all programs established
under the bill's provisions.
e) Caps the fees that may be charged students
in these programs at the rate charged for
students in state-supported DPT programs at the
UC (including joint programs of the CSU and UC).
f) Requires that start-up funding for these
programs be met within existing academic program
support budgets, without diminishing the program
support offered to undergraduates.
g) Prohibits funding of these programs from
resulting in reduced undergraduate enrollment at
the CSU.
2) Requires the CSU, DOF and LAO to jointly conduct a
statewide evaluation of the implementation of the DPT
programs authorized by this bill. More specifically
it:
a) Requires the evaluation be
submitted to the Legislature and Governor by
January 1, 2015.
b) Requires the evaluation consider
the number of new programs implemented, as
AB 2382
Page 4
specified, the extent to which the programs are
fulfilling identified needs for physical
therapists, information on subsequent job
placement and employment of graduates, program
costs, fund sources, and cost per degree awarded,
the cost of programs to students, as specified,
and the degree of compliance with the bill's
provisions.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . In January 2009, the CAPTE,
recognized by the United States Department of
Education (USDE) as the entity for accrediting
entry-level physical therapist and physical therapist
assistant education programs, announced the adoption
of new Evaluative Criteria for the Accreditation of
Education Programs for the Preparation of Physical
Therapists. These programs are now required to
culminate in the awarding of a DPT degree in order to
be accredited. The CAPTE will begin enforcing this
criterion effective December 31, 2015. Educational
programs that continue to award the master's degree
have until December 31, 2017, to come into compliance
or have their accreditation withdrawn.
In California, physical therapists must be licensed to
practice by the Physical Therapy Board of California.
Obtaining a license requires a master's degree in
physical therapy, passage of the National Physical
Therapy Examination (NPTE), the California Law
Examination (CLE), and a criminal history fingerprint
background check. According to the CAPTE, graduation
from an accredited program is required for licensure
to practice physical therapy in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The CSU
currently offers a master's in physical therapy at
four of its campuses and a Joint DPT is offered
through San Francisco State University and UC San
Francisco. Without this bill, the CSU master's
programs in physical therapy will be forced to close,
as these graduates will be ineligible for licensure
and unable to enter the profession after 2017.
AB 2382
Page 5
2) Slippery slope ? Staff notes that a similar issue
arose a few years ago when the American
Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), a national
professional organization representing audiologists
and also the accrediting body for professional
preparation programs in audiology, speech and language
pathology, mandated that beginning in 2007
audiologists would be required to earn a doctorate to
attain professional certification. Schools that did
not offer a doctorate in audiology would lose their
accreditation. At the time, the CSU offered five
master's level audiology programs and one joint
doctoral program between San Diego State University
and UC San Diego. The Legislature chose not to
provide this authorization to the CSU.
Staff notes that it was not then, nor is it now, the
CSU or an independent accrediting or educational
evaluating organization that is mandating this change
in physical therapy programs. Again, it is a private
professional association that is not only the sole
accrediting agency but is also the sole provider of
individual certification and the national licensing
exam. Should a single private agency, in essence,
dictate the programs that California public colleges
must offer? Shouldn't the schools play a role in
determining what their educational standards should
be? How many other private professional agencies will
follow suit?
3) What is the DPT ? According to the California Physical
Therapy Association, a DPT is a clinically based,
professional doctoral degree, and as such, is
distinguished from doctoral degrees conferred by the
UC that are research or academically based. According
to information provided by the sponsor, the programs
currently in place at the CSU require no additional
funding to convert to a DPT and have the faculty,
expertise, equipment and labs prepared to train
physical therapists at the doctoral level.
4) Why not a joint degree ? Under current law, the CSU is
authorized to offer joint degrees with either the UC
or private higher education institutions. Arguably,
AB 2382
Page 6
under this authority, the need to offer the DPT could
be met by expanding the type of partnership that
exists between UCSF/SFSU. It is unclear why only one
such program has been fully developed (the joint DPT
program with CSU Fresno is reportedly "in
transition"), as the UC did not respond to staff's
request for information regarding the subject of this
bill.
5) California's physical therapy programs . Of the14
education programs in physical therapy within
California, nine are offered by private institutions,
culminate in a DPT and range in cost from about
$73,000 to $122,000. Of the five programs offered by
public institutions, only the UCSF/SFSU Joint program
offers a DPT and CSU Fresno, CSU Long Beach, CSU
Northridge and CSU Sacramento offer a masters degree
and range in cost from $15,000-$38,000.
According to the CSU, their programs are heavily
subscribed, with CSU Northridge reporting that in 2010
they received 483 applications for 40 spots with an
average increase in applicants of 25 percent per year.
Of approximately 464 graduates of physical therapy
programs in the state per year, the four CSU campuses
produce about 148 (32 percent).
6) Workforce trends . According to the Labor Market
Information Division (LMID) of the California
Employment Development Department, in California, the
need for physical therapists is expected to increase
due to growth in the general and aging population, the
widespread interest in health, and the growth of
sports medicine. The demand for physical therapists
is expected to grow much faster than the average
growth rate for all occupations, with jobs expected to
increase by 29.7 percent (4,400 jobs) between 2006 and
2016. In addition, the LMID reports that the median
annual salary for physical therapists in California in
2010 was $82,255.
7) Prior similar legislation .
AB 867 (Nava, 2009) would have authorized the CSU to
AB 2382
Page 7
award a Doctor of Nursing Practice
(DNP) degree subject to specified conditions. AB 867
passed this committee in June 2009, by a vote of 8-0, but
was subsequently held under submission in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
SB 724 (Scott, Chapter 269, Statutes of 2005)
established the authority and conditions under which
the CSU could offer the Doctor of Education (Ed.D)
degree. The authority and conditions established in
this bill are almost identical to those established
for purposes of the awarding of the Ed.D degree.
SUPPORT
50+ Individual Letters
California Hospital Association
California Physical Therapy Association
California Postsecondary Education Commission
Intercollegiate Academic Clinical Coordinators Council
Northern California Clinical Education Consortium
Occupational Therapy Association of California
Physical Therapy Board of California
OPPOSITION
California Medical Association
California Orthopedic Association
California Podiatric Medical Association