BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2427
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 16, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     AB 2427 (Butler) - As Amended:  May 2, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Higher 
          EducationVote:7-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the California State University (CSU), by 
          July 1, 2014 and annually thereafter, to report specified 
          information regarding the courses offered and students enrolled 
          in the CSU's Extended and Continuing Education Program.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The annual report involves 12 specified attributes regarding 
          extended education students and courses. Because several of the 
          data required are not currently reported, CSU will incur 
          one-time costs exceeding $500,000 to modify existing program 
          applications and university data systems. Ongoing costs to 
          collect the required data from all 23 campuses and complete the 
          report would be in the range of $50,000.

           COMMENTS

          1)Background  . CSU's Extended Education was initially established 
            to offer non-traditional students an opportunity to take 
            college courses, usually off-campus, and was expected to be 
            self-supporting, as opposed to publicly-subsidized. Initially, 
            extension course offerings specialized in career enhancement 
            and non-credit courses. Over time, the Extended Education 
            branches of the CSU has grown, serving larger numbers of adult 
            professionals and expanding to CSU matriculated students. As 
            of 2010, Campus Extended Education programs offered 149 degree 
            programs.

           2)Purpose  . According to the author's office, "With an average of 
            6% cuts to courses across 23 CSU campuses, it is taking 








                                                                  AB 2427
                                                                  Page  2

            students longer and longer to graduate and at a much higher 
            cost. If 'Extended Education's role is to support the mission 
            of the CSU, complementing CSU programs with its own programs 
            that together will benefit students and the state with 
            affordable pricing and programming desired in the marketplace' 
            (Board of Trustees report, September 2010?), then in times 
            like these, the cost of tuition should be reflective of that 
            role and there should be greater transparency within this part 
            of the CSU." 

            The bill is sponsored by the California Faculty Association.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081