BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 661
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Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 661 (Block) - As Amended: April 28, 2011
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: >
SUMMARY : Would authorize the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community
College District (GCCCD) and the San Mateo Community College
District (SMCCD) to offer baccalaureate degrees, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes various findings and declarations, including that
allowing California Community Colleges (CCC) to provide
baccalaureate degrees can help California meet its future
workforce education needs.
2)Authorizes GCCCD and SMCCD to establish a baccalaureate degree
pilot program (Pilot), provides that the Pilot will expire
eight years after the first class of students begin the
program, and requires the Pilot to meet the following
eligibility requirements:
a) The districts must seek accreditation as a baccalaureate
degree granting college.
b) The districts must maintain the primary mission of the
CCC as outlined in existing law but shall have the
additional mission to provide high-quality undergraduate
education at an affordable price for students and the
state.
c) The districts may offer one baccalaureate degree on each
campus in a field of study subject to the following
requirements as determined by the governing board of the
district:
i) Identified and documented unmet workforce needs in
the subject areas of the baccalaureate degree to be
offered;
ii) No duplication of similar programs offered by nearby
public institutions; and
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iii) Expertise, resources, and student interest in the
area of study.
d) Requires GCCCD and SMCCD to maintain separate records
for students who are enrolled in courses classified in the
upper division and lower division of the Pilot. Provides
that a student shall be reported as a community college
student for enrollment in a lower division course and as a
Pilot student for enrollment in an upper division course.
e) Requires GCCCD and SMCCD governing boards to determine
the appropriate governance system for the Pilots, to make
decisions regarding the curriculum, faculty, and
facilities, and to establish the level of matriculation,
tuition, and other appropriate costs for students enrolled
in the Pilots.
f) Authorizes the GCCCD and SMCCD governing boards to
charge Pilot students a fee, in an amount determined by the
governing board that covers the additional costs imposed by
providing the Pilot, for enrollment in courses that are not
transfer core curriculum courses. Provides that the fees
shall be deposited in the designated fund of the district
in accordance with the CCC Budget and Accounting Manual and
expended for the Pilot.
g) Authorizes GCCCD and SMCCD governing boards to enter
into agreements with local businesses and agencies to
provide educational services to students participating in
the Pilots.
h) Requires GCCCD and SMCCD to report to the Legislature
within one year prior to the expiration of the Pilots on
the success of the Pilots through an evaluation of the
following factors:
i) The percentage of students who complete a
baccalaureate degree, calculated by dividing the number
of students who graduate from the Pilot by the number of
students who enrolled in the Pilot.
ii) The extent to which the Pilot is self-supporting,
such that the student fees charged cover the costs of the
Pilot.
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iii) Whether there is a problem with finding and paying
instructors for the Pilot.
iv) Whether there was a decline in enrollment in the
California State University (CSU) or the University of
California (UC) as a result of the Pilot.
v) The number of students who received jobs in the area
in the field of study of their baccalaureate degree.
vi) The amount of student fees charged as compared to
the amount of student fees charged at CSU and UC.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes CCC, with the primary mission to offer academic
and vocational instruction at the lower division level for
both younger and older students, including those persons
returning to school and not beyond the second year of college.
2)Establishes the CCC Baccalaureate Partnership Program, formed
for the purpose of offering baccalaureate degree programs on
participating CCC campuses.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill : The author notes that tens of
thousands of students are being turned away from UC and CSU
campuses, and yet according to the Public Policy Institute of
California, this state needs to produce almost one million more
college educated workers by 2025 in order to remain economically
competitive. The author argues that allowing a select number of
CCCs to offer baccalaureate degrees could be one way to help
improve retention and graduation rates while providing
place-bound students an opportunity to get a high-quality
education close to home.
Committee oversight hearing : On March 1, 2011, the Assembly
Higher Education Committee conducted an oversight hearing to
examine the issues surrounding a CCC baccalaureate degree
program. In an effort to increase the percentage of degree
holders and provide access to a population of students who may
not otherwise attend four-year universities, several states have
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taken steps to allow their community colleges to award
specialized baccalaureate degrees.
The arguments in favor of the community college baccalaureate
degree are compelling:
1)Increased access to the baccalaureate for place-bound, adult
workers and first-generation college students.
2)Greater affordability for students as in most states the cost
of a community college baccalaureate is lower than tuition at
four-year institutions. Committee staff notes that this bill
does not require the student fee amount to be lower than that
of CSU or UC but instead requires the fee amount to cover the
cost of the Pilot.
3)Ability to meet local workforce demands as community colleges
work with local employers and develop degree and certificate
programs that respond to specified workforce needs. Committee
staff notes that this bill would require Pilot degrees to be
offered in areas of identified workforce need.
4)Previously established joint accreditation process whereby the
Western Association of Schools and Colleges accrediting
commission, the Accrediting Commission for Community and
Junior Colleges (ACCJC) provides for joint accreditation of
two-year degree granting institutions currently accredited by
ACCJC that wish to offer a single baccalaureate degree while
retaining their core mission as a two-year-degree-granting
institution. Committee staff notes this bill would authorize
only one baccalaureate degree offering at the Pilot districts.
Examples in other states : According to the American Association
of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), there has been a
steady growth in the number of community colleges offering
baccalaureate degrees. An estimated 19 states have made
provisions for community college baccalaureate degrees. With
the exception of Florida, in most states only a few colleges are
authorized to award baccalaureate degrees and within each
college only a few specialized baccalaureate degrees are
offered, mostly in health fields, teaching and education, and
science and mathematics. A recent analysis of states with
community college bachelor degree programs found the primary
reasons for offering these programs are to address workforce
needs, respond to economic pressures from employers, increase
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access to populations underserved by traditional bachelor
degree-granting institutions, and maintain college
affordability.
Pilot districts : Pilot programs are designed to test and
evaluate how a program will work in a variety of circumstances
before implementation on a statewide basis. Thus, pilots are
usually selected by the CCC Chancellor in a competitive process
that seeks to ensure demographic and geographic diversity. This
bill specifies the CCC districts that will serve as the Pilots
without the benefit of a competitive process or evaluation of
the diversity of the Pilots. Will this provide a suitable test
of the viability of the CCC baccalaureate degree and possible
implementation challenges for all CCCs?
Mission expansion: This bill represents a significant expansion
of the CCC mission with an unknown impact on the ability of CCC
to complete its existing missions. As reported by the Institute
for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, of the 60% of CCC
students seeking a degree or certificate, only about one-fourth
succeed in transferring to a university and/or earning an
associate's degree or certificate within six years. In the
2009-10 Budget Act, the Legislature and Administration asked CCC
to focus its resources on three key priorities: career technical
education, basic skills, and transfer. The author and committee
may wish to consider whether this bill is consistent with that
intent. However, Committee staff notes that this bill requires
the CCC governing boards to maintain the primary mission of CCC
as outlined in existing law.
High implementation costs : In order to add upper division
coursework, CCCs would need to increase faculty and upgrade
laboratories and libraries. CCCs have argued during budget
debates that they do not receive adequate funding for their
existing responsibilities and student enrollment levels. This
bill would authorize CCC governing boards to establish student
fee levels that cover the cost of the program. If the student
fees include start-up costs, is it likely that the tuition rates
will be competitive with the rates charged by established
four-year institutions?
Fee amounts : This bill allows the Pilots to charge fees to
cover the additional costs imposed by providing a baccalaureate
degree pilot program, for enrollment in courses that are not
transfer core curriculum courses, as defined. What is included
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in "costs"? Could the fee differ among the Pilots? Would CCC
seek funding from the state (CCC receives approximately $4,000
per full-time equivalent student)? If fees are not collected
until students are enrolling in Pilots, how will districts fund
start-up costs?
Other alternatives : Partnerships between a CCC and a CSU campus
have been established to deliver upper-division instruction at
community sites away from the main CSU campus. The CCC
Baccalaureate Partnership Program, formed for the purpose of
offering baccalaureate degree programs on participating CCC
campuses, authorizes the CCC Chancellor's Office to award
annually two grants, not to exceed $50,000 each, to a
collaborative, consisting of at least one CCC and at least one
baccalaureate-degree granting institution, formed for the
purpose of offering a baccalaureate degree program at
participating CCCs. Ca�ada College partners with SFSU and CSU
East Bay to provide baccalaureate degrees at the University
Center located on the Ca�ada College campus in Child and
Adolescent Development, Nursing, and Health Sciences. The city
of Stockton receives baccalaureate-level instruction provided by
CSU Stanislaus at an off-campus site in Stockton. CSU Fullerton
maintains a branch campus in El Toro, serving approximately
1,140 full-time equivalent students annually.
Several CCCs partner with both public and private universities
to provide baccalaureate degrees. Operating the baccalaureate
programs, including the hiring of faculty, counseling students,
overseeing curricula and registering students is the
responsibility of each university partner exclusively, however
the courses are offered on the CCC campus. College of the
Canyons partners with The American College, Brandman University,
California State University Bakersfield, California State
University Los Angeles, California State University Northridge,
National University, TEACH, UCLA Extension, and the University
of La Verne. Shasta College has a university partnership with
National University offering students the opportunity to enroll
in National's bachelor program while concurrently enrolled in
Shasta.
Prior efforts : AB 2400 (Block) of 2010, would have authorized
three specified CCC districts to offer baccalaureate degrees as
part of a pilot program and was held in the Assembly Higher
Education Committee at the request of the author. AB 1455
(Hill) of 2009, subsequently amended to address public safety
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issues, as introduced would have required the CCC Board of
Governors to establish a pilot program to allow selected CCC
districts to offer baccalaureate degrees. AB 1280 (Maze),
Chapter 515, Statutes of 2005, established the CCC Baccalaureate
Partnership Program. AB 1932 (Maze), of 2004, expressed
legislative intent to authorize CCCs to award bachelor's degrees
and was held without recommendation in the Assembly Higher
Education Committee. The California Performance Review issued
by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005 recommended that the Governor
work with the Legislature to create a pilot program allowing
approved CCCs to offer baccalaureate degrees. Under the pilot
program, individual community colleges interested in offering a
baccalaureate degree would submit a proposal for approval by the
Secretary of Education or his or her successor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Nurses Association of California
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District
Kaiser Permanente
San Mateo Community College District
Scripps Health
Opposition
California Nurses Association
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960