BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1138 (Liu) - California Postsecondary Education Commission
(CPEC) Data.
Amended: May 2, 2012 Policy Vote: Education 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 24, 2012 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 1138 requires the California Department of
Education (CDE), in coordination with the state board of
education (SBE) to succeed specified data management
responsibilities which were previously the responsibility of the
CPEC. This bill further requires the California State University
(CSU) Board of Trustees and the Regents of the University of
California (UC) to provide reports on expenditures and financial
aid to the Legislature, and for the Legislative Analyst's Office
(LAO) to annually review and report to the Legislature its
findings, conclusions, or recommendations regarding the
implementation of policies implemented pursuant to the bill.
This bill codifies legislative intent that the segments refrain
from implementing new programs if CPEC is unable to perform its
program review responsibilities
Fiscal Impact:
CDE data management: Approximately $400,000 - $500,000,
most of which would be on-going, for additional staff and
training. The CDE estimates it would require up to 3
technical staff to receive and manage data, and up to 2
professional staff for related activities authorized by the
bill, to the extent taken on by the CDE.
Legislative intent: Creates cost pressure to reinstate CPEC
funding, since any new programs at the segments would
functionally be tied to CPEC being reinstated.
Background: Existing law establishes the CPEC as the entity
responsible for coordinating public, independent, and private
postsecondary education in California and providing independent
policy analysis and recommendations to the Legislature and the
Governor on postsecondary education issues. It also requires the
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CPEC to act as a clearinghouse for postsecondary education
information and to serve as a primary source of information for
the Legislature, Governor, and other agencies. CPEC maintained a
comprehensive database that supported longitudinal studies of
individual students as they progressed through the state's
postsecondary educational institutions through the use of a
unique student identifier.
The Governor vetoed funding for CPEC in the 2011-12 Budget,
which resulted in the closure of the CPEC office in November
2011. Prior to its closure, the CPEC transferred its data
warehouse to the California Community Colleges (CCC)
Chancellor's Office where the existing data is being housed and
stored under an interagency agreement between the UC, CSU, and
the CCC. The CCC houses existing data, but has not been
collecting additional data nor taking on additional
responsibilities that CPEC had previously undertaken. CPEC's
statutory authority still exists, but the removal of all funding
has prevented its operation.
Proposed Law: This bill places new requirements on the CDE, UC,
CSU, CCC, and LAO. With regard to the CDE, this bill:
Requires the department, in coordination with the
SBE, to succeed CPEC's data management responsibilities.
Requires the department to enter into an interagency
agreement with the CCC to continue its management of an
existing CPEC database.
Gives the department the power to require
institutions of public post-secondary education to submit
data on plans and programs, costs, selection and retention
of students, enrollments, plant capacities, and other
matters pertinent to effective planning, policy
development, and articulation and coordination, as
specified.
With regard to the UC and CSU, this bill:
Requires these segments to provide annual reports to
the LAO regarding expenditures of revenues derived from
student fees and uses of institutional financial aid, as
well as information regarding the total cost of education
per student, categorized specifically by undergraduate and
graduate education costs, including fixed costs, variable
costs, administrative costs, instructional costs, and
student services costs.
Places them under the authority of the CDE for
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purposes of providing detailed programmatic and planning
information about the system, facilities, student body, and
administration, at the CDE's request.
With regard to the LAO, this bill:
Requires the LAO to annually review and report to the
Legislature its findings, conclusions, or recommendations
regarding the implementation of policies implemented
pursuant to the bill.
Finally, this bill codifies legislative intent that the segments
refrain from implementing new programs if CPEC, or a successor
entity, is unable to perform its program review
responsibilities.
Related Legislation: AB 2190 (Perez), establishes and provides
for the governance structure and responsibilities of a new
coordinating body, the California Higher Education Authority, to
replace the CPEC, transfers higher education data management
responsibilities to the Authority on or after July 1, 2013, and
authorizes the Authority to collect data on the cost of
education, as specified. This bill is currently on the Suspense
File of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: This bill places new requirements on multiple
entities, each of which anticipate costs to fulfill this bill's
requirements. The CDE estimates requiring approximately $400,000
- $500,000 in the first year, for additional staff and training
on collecting and managing higher education data. Currently, the
CDE has very little formal interaction with the segments, and no
authority to compel them to share information. In future years,
the costs would reduce somewhat, after the CDE establishes its
processes and training for carrying out its new duties. Staffing
costs would, however, be on-going. The CDE would require up to 3
technical staff, and up to 2 professional staff.
The UC estimates that the detailed annual reporting would cost
UC $1 million in the first year, because the UC does not
currently collect all of the types of information this bill
would require, nor disaggregates the data is does collect in the
ways required by this bill. The first year cost estimate
includes the staff time for .5 FTE at each of 10 campuses to
collect and report data not currently collected, and for a .5
FTE UC staff person to compile and report specified data to the
LAO. In future years, that cost would be reduced to $500,000.
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The CSU data reporting: $95,000 annually in data collection
costs; CSU envisions that a single full-time employee will be
responsible for data collection at the campus level, and
required system-wide reporting.
This bill requires the LAO review the information submitted by
the segments and to annually report to the Legislature on its
findings, conclusions, or recommendations regarding the
implementation of these policies, and to assess the information
provided by the regents and the trustees pursuant to
subdivision. The LAO has indicated that if all of the
information is received from the segments, the review and report
could be completed within existing resources.
This bill adds legislative intent language to CPEC statutes
regarding the review of segment programs, stating: "In the event
that the commission is unable to perform its responsibilities
under this subdivision, it is the intent of the Legislature that
the public postsecondary segments refrain from implementing new
programs until the commission or a successor entity is able to
perform the review required by this subdivision." In other
words, until there is funding for CPEC activities (whether
carried out by CPEC or a successor) the segments should not
implement any new programs. This appears to include both
programs developed internally, and those currently being
proposed by this Legislature. Tying the implementation of new
programs to the funding for CPEC review activities creates cost
pressure to fund those CPEC responsibilities, so that the
segments can operate their programs.
Proposed Author Amendments: The proposed amendments would delete
the provisions requiring new data reporting by the segments to
the Legislature and the LAO, and the related LAO report.