BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 851
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 851 (Nestande)
As Amended April 25, 2011
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 8-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Block, Donnelly, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Achadjian, Brownley, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Fong, Galgiani, Miller, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Portantino | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a common definition of "distance learning
course" and requires data gathering and reporting on such
courses offered by the state public postsecondary institutions.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "distance learning course" as a course conducted with
a majority of the instructional content delivered when faculty
and students are in different locations and instruction is
delivered through technology.
2)Requires the California State University (CSU) and the
California Community Colleges (CCC), and requests the
University of California (UC), by January 1, 2014, and every
two years thereafter, to report specified workload and
performance data to the Legislature, including program
completion rates for degree programs that include exclusively
distance learning courses.
3)Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), by February
1, 2012, to convene a task force to identify steps needed to
establish a virtual Western Governors University (WGU),
California, and requires the task force to report its findings
by February 1, 2013.
4)States legislative intent that the task force evaluate
establishing a WGU as a degree-granting institution that is
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self-supporting but does not preclude WGU students from
qualifying for the state's student financial aid programs.
EXISTING LAW : Establishes a California Distance Learning Policy
to set forth guiding goals and principles for the use of
technology in California postsecondary education. Establishes
the California Virtual Campus pursuant to funding provided to
the CCC Board of Governors to, among other responsibilities,
enhance awareness and utilization of online courses of study.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, CCC currently reports all the information required in
this bill except distance education program completion rates.
Assuming all districts incurred costs averaging a few thousand
dollars for programming, total General Fund (GF) (Proposition
98) reimbursable costs would be $140,000 to $210,000. The
Chancellor's Office of the CCC will incur GF one-time costs of
$24,000 to update its curriculum inventory. CSU will incur
one-time GF costs of $60,000 to $100,000 to implement the
reporting requirements. UC indicates that any costs would be
absorbable.
COMMENTS :
Background : Distance learning generally refers to instruction
in which faculty and students are in separate locations and
communicating using technology. Most distance learning is
delivered over the Internet or with television. In California,
the main providers of distance learning are private for-profit
colleges and CCC. CSU also offers some instruction using
distance education; however, UC use of distance education is
limited. Distance education has experienced tremendous growth
in recent years. According to estimates, approximately 4.6
million students (about one-quarter of total enrollments)
nationwide took at least one course online at their college or
university in the fall of 2008. According to information
compiled by the LAO in 1999-00, about 115,000 students in the
CCC system took at least one class via distance education (out
of a system-wide headcount of 2.5 million). By 2009-10, over
600,000 CCC students were taking distance education courses, out
of a system-wide headcount of 2.8 million.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, this bill seeks
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to increase college access to those that are unable to
participate in traditional classroom college instruction and/or
who find distance learning to be a better option. The
provisions of this bill are based on the recommendations
contained in the recent LAO report, "Using Distance Education to
Increase College Access and Efficiency."
WGU : WGU is an accredited, nonprofit, online private university
based in Utah that was founded by the governors in 19 western
states in the 1990's. Indiana has formed a partnership under
which WGU operates a virtual branch in Indiana, and the state
allows residents to apply for financial-aid toward attendance at
WGU. This bill would require the LAO to convene a task force to
identify steps toward the establishment of a WGU, California,
and to report recommendations by February 1, 2012.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0000867