BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 636
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     AB 636 (Knight) - As Amended:  May 9, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              VeteransVote:7-0
                         Higher Education                     9-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill expands higher education tuition and fee refund policy 
          for veterans who withdraw from class due to deployment, to cover 
          the cost of tuition and fees already paid, regardless of 
          withdrawal date.

          (Current law requires public and private colleges and 
          universities to credit or refund tuition and fees,
          provided the student withdraws before a withdrawal date 
          established by the school.)

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Moderate annual tuition and fee revenue loss, potentially in 
          excess of $150,000, depending on deployment needs and number of 
          service persons attending community colleges, CSU and UC to 
          provide additional refunds to students deployed after a school's 
          specified withdrawal deadline. For example, should this bill 
          affect 125 community college students and 25 CSU students in a 
          given year, the cost for refunds or credit would be about 
          $160,000. 

           COMMENTS  

           Rationale  . The author contends students who are deployed should 
          not be subject to the same withdrawal dates that may apply to 
          non-service member students. 

          According to the author, "Servicemen and women obviously have 
          little to no choice in when they depart, and are often given a 
          short time frame in which to prepare to leave on deployment. If 








                                                                  AB 636
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          they are forced to leave mid-term, they deserve to be given an 
          opportunity for compensation, regardless of the date the 
          institution mandates for student withdrawal."

           

           Analysis Prepared by :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081