BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: April 17, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
AB 2462 (Block) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: academic credit for
prior military academic experience.
SUMMARY : Requires the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges (CCC) to implement a process for awarding credit for
prior military experience and encourages CCCs to facilitate the
acceptance of credits for prior military academic experience, as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the CCC Chancellor to implement a process for
awarding credit for prior military academic experience, to be
completed no later than July 1, 2013, that meets the pertinent
standards of the American Council on Education (ACE).
2)Encourages CCCs to recognize prior military academic
experience and award credit where appropriate, which may
include the use of the ACE standards or other appropriate
system that offers a consistent and reasonable method of
recognizing that learning.
3)Encourages the CCC Academic Senate to develop recommendations
regarding approaches to the use of systems, including but not
limited to the ACE system, that provide guidance for awarding
college credit for academic instruction and experience in a
military setting.
4)Encourages CCCs to consider military education and or
experience for credit for career technical education
instruction and develop ways to evaluate progress to, or
completion of, a professional or occupational certificate.
5)States that CCCs may also use the credit by exam process to
award college credit for experience or instruction gained in a
military setting.
6)Creates a reimburseable state mandate if so determined by the
Commission on State Mandates.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)Establishes a matriculation process at CCCs with the purpose
of realizing a student's educational objectives.
Matriculation services to be made available by the colleges
include, but are not limited to (a) processing of admission
applications, (b) orientation and pre-orientation services
concerning academic expectations and financial assistance,
and (c) assessment and counseling upon enrollment, as
specified. (Education Code � 78212)
2)Requires the California State University (CSU) and CCC to
grant priority registration for enrollment to former members
of the Armed Forces of the United States within four years of
leaving active military duty. (EC � 66025.8)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill is double-referred to the Assembly
Veterans Affairs Committee.
Background . In California, an approximate 30,000 troops
annually are leaving service, and many are pursuing education.
Student veteran enrollment has increased at the University of
California (UC), CSU, and CCC in recent years: CCC enrolls
44,000 students who utilize some form of veteran tuition/fee
benefit, while CSU enrolls 6,540 and UC enrolls 949 students who
are using GI benefits. Approximately 90% of UC and CSU student
veterans transferred from a CCC campus.
Recent hearing on student veteran issues . On February 28, 2012,
the Assembly Higher Education and Assembly Veterans Affairs
Committees held a joint oversight hearing on the challenges
facing California student veterans. Several students and
representatives from the higher education institutions spoke for
the need for more resources for veterans' services, including
more transition assistance, improving outreach and campus-based
programs, and easing the matriculation of prior military
learning.
Need for this bill . According to the author, it is unclear the
extent to which CCCs are equally evaluating prior service as it
relates to academic credit. Recent budget cuts have made this
task even more challenging for campuses. Thus, this bill
requires the Chancellor's Office to develop a process for
awarding this credit, for example, matching CCC common course
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descriptors with the ACE Guide standards.
ACE Guide. The military issues academic transcripts for
active-duty service members and veterans. The transcripts issued
by the various service branches are endorsed and periodically
evaluated by ACE and bear its seal. ACE also provides
recommendations to colleges for evaluating these transcripts.
The Guide's credit transfer recommendations are based on reviews
of military coursework by a panel of university faculty members
convened by ACE. These faculty members review military
coursework and occupational training descriptions pertaining to
their own academic disciplines, evaluating them according to
disciplinary standards and expectations.
UC and CSU have recently adopted the ACE standards for
evaluating prior military academic credit. In spring 2011, the
CCC statewide Academic Senate passed a resolution urging local
senates to apply credit for educational experiences during
military service toward the associate degree in accordance with
the recommendations listed in the ACE Guide.
CCC recognition of prior learning . It is difficult to ascertain
to what extent prior learning experiences receive academic
credit at CCC, since the determinations are made at each campus,
but it appears that the application of prior learning credit is
uneven. At present, 46 CCCs are members of the Servicemembers
Opportunity Colleges Consortium, which require member
institutions to, among other things, provide credit for military
training and experience, including use of the ACE Guide in
evaluating and awarding academic credit for military training
and experience.
CCC budget cuts . The CCC matriculation program is currently in
a state of transition due to significant funding cuts in recent
years and legislative budget language allowing districts
flexibility in implementing program mandates. According to the
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC, 2010),
counselor-to-student ratios of 1 to 1,000 or more are not
uncommon at CCC campuses.
Transferability of credit for prior learning experiences . While
faculty at a CCC may grant academic credit for prior learning
experiences, this does not ensure that these courses will
transfer to a four-year institution. Faculty at the receiving
institution determines whether prior learning credits are
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accepted by that institution. This issue could be considered by
the CCC and CSU faculty who are implementing SB 1440 (Padilla),
Chapter 428, Statutes of 2010, which statutorily prescribes the
content of a community college degree that meets transfer
eligibility requirements.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960