BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 372
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 372 (Hernandez) - As Amended: April 26, 2011
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: veterans' academic
credit.
SUMMARY : Requires California Community Colleges (CCC) faculty
to provide military service personal, veterans, trade
apprentices and journey-level professionals an assessment of
college-level learning gained in non-academic settings as part
of the matriculation process, and requires equivalent academic
credit be awarded according to the standards of the American
Council on Education, Council for Adult and Experiential
Learning, or other equivalent standard for awarding academic
credits.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes a matriculation process at CCC for the purpose of
realizing a student's educational objectives. (Education Code
§ 78212)
2)Requires the California State University (CSU) and CCC to
grant priority registration for enrollment to former members
of the Armed Forces of the United States within two years of
leaving active military duty. (EC § 66025.8)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . The CCC matriculation process includes
admissions, orientation, assessment and testing, counseling, and
student follow-up. Under current law, assessment and counseling
upon enrollment includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1)Administration of assessment instruments to determine student
competency in math and language skills.
2)Assistance in the identification of aptitudes, interests and
educational objectives, including the associate of arts
degrees, transfer for baccalaureate degrees, and vocational
certificates and licenses.
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3)Evaluation of student study and learning skills.
4)Referral to specialized support services, as needed, including
but not limited to financial assistance, health services,
campus employment services, extended opportunity programs and
services, campus child care services, English as a second
language services, and disabled student services.
5)Advisement on course selection.
Need for this bill . This bill would add a sixth component to
the assessment that occurs during a student's matriculation
process: the evaluation and awarding by faculty of academic
credits for experience in non-academic settings of military
service personal, veterans, trade apprentices and journey-level
professionals. According to the author, veterans who return
from their service and turn to higher education as a means to
receive a degree and to eventually gain employment are not able
to use their service training and technical certification
towards their college course work.
Prior learning assessment resources :
1)American Council on Education (ACE) Guide. To assist colleges
in evaluating military training for course credit, the
military issues academic transcripts for active-duty service
members and veterans. The Coast Guard and Air Force each
operate their own military transcript services, the latter
through the Community College of the Air Force, a regionally
accredited, degree-granting institution. The Navy and Marines
issue the Sailor/Marine/ACE Registry Transcript, and the Army
issues the Army/ACE Registry TranscriptService transcript.
Both of these transcripts are endorsed and periodically
evaluated by ACE and bear its seal. ACE also publishes the
Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the
Armed Services, which provides recommendations to colleges for
evaluating these transcripts. The Guide's credit transfer
recommendations are based on reviews of military coursework by
a panel of university faculty members convened by ACE. These
faculty members review military coursework and occupational
training descriptions pertaining to their own academic
disciplines, evaluating them according to disciplinary
standards and expectations.
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2)Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). CAEL is a
national non-profit organization that creates and manages
learning strategies for working adults through partnerships
with employers, higher education, the public sector, and
labor. CAEL offers services to facilitate successful
matriculation of adult learners in higher education, including
assessment tools to assist in evaluating current policies and
practices for serving adult learners, best practices utilized
by successful institutions, and research and evaluations of
prior learning assessments and student academic outcomes.
CCC recognition of prior learning . It is difficult to ascertain
to what extent prior learning experiences receive academic
credit at CCC, since the determinations are made at each campus,
but it appears that the application of prior learning credit is
uneven. However, 50 CCCs are members of the Servicemembers
Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium, which provide educational
opportunities to servicemembers to facilitate degree attainment
such as 1) reasonable transfer of credit to avoid excessive loss
of previously earned credit and course work duplication and 2)
credit for military training and experience, including use of
the ACE Guide in evaluating and awarding academic credit for
military training and experience. In addition, the CCC Academic
Senate recently passed a resolution urging local senates to
apply credit for educational experiences during military service
toward the associate degree-including the fulfillment of general
education, major coursework, and other degree requirements-in
accordance with the recommendations listed in the ACE Guide.
CCC budget cuts . The CCC matriculation program is currently in
a state of transition due to significant funding cuts (52%)
during 2009-10 and legislative budget language allowing
districts flexibility in implementing program mandates.
According to MDRC (2010), counselor-to-student ratios of 1 to
1,000 or more are not uncommon at CCC campuses. Further, the
Governor recently signed legislation reducing CCC's 2011-12
budget by $400 million, and it is unclear what impact these
budget cuts will have on the CCC's ability to provide
comprehensive matriculation services.
Transferability of credit for prior learning experiences . While
faculty at a CCC may grant academic credit for prior learning
experiences, this does not ensure that these courses will
transfer to a four-year institution. Faculty at the receiving
institution determine whether prior learning credits are
AB 372
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accepted by that institution. This issue could be considered by
the CCC and CSU faculty who are implementing SB 1440 (Padilla),
Chapter 428, Statutes of 2010, which statutorily prescribes the
content of a community college degree that meets transfer
eligibility requirements.
Related legislation . AB 636 (Knight), which is set for hearing
in the Committee on May 3, 2011, would allow students who are
called to military service a complete refund of educational
tuition fees. AB 649 (Harkey), which passed this Committee on
March 29, 2011, would extend veterans' priority registration for
classes from two to five years.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960