BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2296
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2296 (Block)
As Amended August 21, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |47-26|(May 14, 2012) |SENATE: |24-14|(August 23, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Requires institutions regulated by the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary Education (Bureau) to provide additional disclosures
to prospective students. Specifically, this bill :
Unaccredited Programs
1)Expands the requirements to be met by an institution that offers
an unaccredited program, as follows:
a) Extends the fair business practice prohibitions related to
unaccredited doctoral programs to include unaccredited
associate, baccalaureate and masters degree programs.
b) Expands the disclosures required of an institution to
include disclosure of the following:
i) Whether or not a graduate of the degree program will be
eligible to sit for the applicable licensure exam in
California and other states;
ii) That a degree from an unaccredited institution is not
recognized for some employment positions, including, but not
limited to, positions with the State of California; and,
iii) That students attending an unaccredited institution are
ineligible for federal financial aid programs.
2)Requires the school catalog to disclose whether or not the
institution is accredited and if it is not, to disclose all the
information outlined above.
Additional Disclosures
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3)Expands the information to be provided to students and in the
institution's Enrollment Agreement, school catalog, and Student
Performance Fact Sheet, as follows:
a) Requires that the School Performance Fact Sheet provided by
an institution, and its annual report to the Bureau, include
the institution's most recent three-year cohort default rate
and the percentage of students receiving federal student loans
(if the institution participates in federal financial aid
programs).
b) Requires that the Enrollment Agreement disclose to the
student that the School Performance Fact Sheet is to include
the cohort default rate information and requires other
conforming changes in the enrollment agreement.
4)Expands disclosure to require the institution to provide on its
Web site, if one is maintained, the school catalog, School
Performance Fact Sheets, student brochures, the institution's most
recent annual report submitted to the Bureau, and a link to the
Bureau Web site, as specified.
Completion, Placement, Licensure and Salary Rates
5)Deletes the condition that an institution makes an express or
implied claim of potential earnings after completing the program
to trigger the requirement that they report salary and wage
information.
6)Expands the authority of the Bureau to collect any information
from an institution for purposes of reporting job placement and
license exam passage rates, salary information, and cohort default
rates, and ensure by regulation that the information is collected
and reported if the Bureau determines the information is useful to
students, based upon the most credible and verifiable available
data, and does not impose undue compliance burdens on an
institution.
7)Provides that "graduates employed the field" means graduates who
are gainfully employed in a single position for which the
institution represents the program prepares its graduates within
six months after a student completes the applicable educational
program. For occupations for which the state requires passing an
examination, the period of employment shall begin within six
months of the announcement of the examination results for the
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first examination available after a student completes an
applicable educational program.
8)Specifies that the Bureau shall define, by July 1, 2014, specific
measures and standards for determining whether a student is
gainfully employed in a full-time or part-time position for which
the institution represents the program prepares its graduates,
including self-employment or conducting freelance work and may set
the standards for the hours per week and duration of employment
and utilize any job classification methodology the Bureau
determines appropriate for this purpose, including, but not
limited to, the United States Department of Labor's Standard
Occupational Classification codes. Specifies that the Bureau may
still authorize an institution to aggregate single positions held
by a graduate for purposes of meeting the hours per week standards
established by the Bureau.
9)Requires, if applicable, that the most recent official three-year
cohort default rate reported by the U.S. Department of Education
for the institution and the percentage of enrolled students
receiving federal student loans be provided by an institution as
part of its annual report to the Bureau.
10)Provides that nothing shall limit the Bureau's authority to
collect information from an institution to comply with this
section and ensure, by regulation and other lawful means, that the
information required, and the manner in which it is collected and
reported, is all of the following:
a) Useful to students;
b) Useful to policymakers;
c) Based upon the most credible and verifiable data available;
and,
d) Does not impose undue compliance burdens on an institution.
11)Provides that in addition to the information already used to
substantiate the rates and information calculated as specified,
that the information be retained in an electronic format and made
available to the Bureau upon request, and that the Bureau shall
identify the specific information that an institution is required
to document and maintain to substantiate rates and information.
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12)Makes various technical and clarifying changes.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete language defining "graduates in the field" to mean
graduates gainfully employed in a position for at least 13 weeks
and working at least 17.5 hours per week in an occupation
identified by the institution, and replaced it with language
allowing the Bureau to define measures and standards for this
purpose, as specified.
2)Make technical and clarifying changes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar to
the version approved by the Senate with the exception of redefining
"graduates in the field," as noted above.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
potentially significant costs to the Bureau, depending on the extent
to which the Bureau is expected to review and enforce new standards
beyond the complaint process. The Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA) anticipates requiring one additional Associate Governmental
Program Analyst position to fulfill this bill's requirements, at a
cost of approximately $81,000 per year. This special fund position
would be paid from the Private Postsecondary Education
Administration Fund.
COMMENTS : Existing law establishes the Private Postsecondary
Education Act (Act) which, among its numerous provisions, requires
numerous program performance and student outcome data disclosures
and prohibits certain conduct on the part of private postsecondary
education institutions. The Act establishes the Bureau within DCA
to provide oversight and regulation of private postsecondary
institutions.
Under the Act, all unaccredited colleges in California must be
approved by the Bureau, and all nationally accredited colleges must
comply with numerous student protections. Institutions that are
covered by the Act are required to follow a Bureau evaluation and
approval process, to abide by numerous "fair business practices"
aimed at protecting students, and to disclose information to
students in enrollment agreements and catalogs, among other
regulations. The Act also establishes penalties for non-compliance,
providing the Bureau authority to perform site visits and
investigations, order fines and student tuition refunds, and
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ultimately suspend or revoke an institution's approval to operate.
This bill expands the requirements on institutions subject to Bureau
oversight, relative to their disclosures to students, and reporting
to the Bureau, around accreditation status, job placements and
salary and wage information, licensure restriction and placement
information. Those new requirements are subject to the review and
enforcement of the Bureau.
Analysis prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960
FN:
0004594