BILL NUMBER: SB 1550 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add and repeal Section 78302
Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 78 310) of
Chap ter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of
the Education Code, relating to community colleges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1550, as amended, Wright. Community colleges: extension
courses. course pilot program.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, which
are administered by the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges. The governing board of any community college
district is authorized, without approval of the board of trustees, to
establish and maintain community service classes in civic,
vocational, literacy, health, homemaking, technical, and general
education, as specified.
This bill would authorize the governing board of any community
college district, without approval of the board of governors, to
establish and maintain an extension program offering credit courses.
The bill would require this program, if it offers career technical
education credit courses and workforce development courses, to be
self-supporting, open to the public, and developed in conformance
with specified statutory and regulatory guidelines. General Fund
moneys would not be expended to establish or maintain the courses,
nor would an extension program course be allowed to supplant
regularly funded courses. Extension courses would not be allowed to
reduce state-funded courses relating to basic skills. The bill would
require district boards to annually certify compliance with these
requirements, as specified.
This bill would allow community college districts to charge
students for the actual costs of the courses, as defined. Each
participating district would be required to collect and keep records
relating to the extension program and submit them to the chancellor's
office by October 1 of each year. This information would, in turn,
be submitted by the chancellor to the Legislative Analyst by November
1 of each year. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst to
submit a written report to the Legislature by November 1, 2015,
summarizing the information provided by the chancellor, assessing
compliance of the program with the Legislature's intent, and
suggesting any needed statutory improvements.
This bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges to establish a voluntary pilot program
for purposes of authorizing a community college district to establish
and maintain an extension program offering career and workforce
training credit courses. The bill would authorize the governing board
of a community college district to apply, and would require the
chancellor to select no more than 8 campuses out of 8 separate
community college districts, to participate in the pilot program. The
bill would require applicant campuses to meet specified requirements
to be eligible for selection for participation in the pilot program.
The bill would require selected campuses to comply with specified
requirements for participation in the pilot program.
The bill would authorize the governing board of a community
college district participating in the pilot program to establish fees
not to exceed the actual cost, as defined, of maintaining the pilot
program. The bill would require each community college district
participating in the pilot program to collect specified information
and submit that information, and a schedule of the fees established
for the pilot program, to the chancellor by August 1 of each year,
and would require the chancellor to forward that information to the
Legislative Analyst's Office.
The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to provide
a report that evaluates the pilot program and includes specified
information to the Legislature by June 30, 2016.
The provisions of the bill would remain in effect only until
January 1, 2020 2019 .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) The California Community Colleges are experiencing record
demand for access to classes and programs that provide students the
skills and education they need to enter the workforce and prepare for
the jobs of the future.
(b) Funding for the California Community Colleges has been cut by
more than 800 million dollars since the 2008-09 fiscal year, and
students have seen fees increase by 125 percent over that time.
Community college budgets have been slashed at precisely the time
when enrollments are skyrocketing and the economy needs more trained
workers.
(c) In 2011, an estimated 140,000 students could not register for
even one class because courses were full. These cuts have placed
tremendous strain on the community colleges, and have reduced
students' prospects of completing their educational goals in a timely
fashion.
(d) Persons with two-year degrees are 30 percent more likely to be
employed and earn higher wages than those with only high school
diplomas.
(e) The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that
occupations that require an associate's degree will grow by 19
percent through 2018. The California Community Colleges are uniquely
positioned to provide a higher education for millions of
Californians.
(f) As Californians, we need to recognize that the state's ongoing
economic crisis necessitates providing flexibility to postsecondary
educational institutions to find innovative ways to meet the training
needs of Californians, and also recognize that the California
Community Colleges are uniquely able to offer high-quality programs
at the lowest cost possible.
SEC. 2. Article 7.5 (commencing with Section
78310) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 48 of Division 7 of
Title 3 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 7.5. Extension Course Pilot Program
78310. (a) The Office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges shall establish a voluntary pilot program for
purposes of authorizing a community college district to establish and
maintain an extension program offering career and workforce training
credit courses. The governing board of a community college district
may apply to be selected to participate in the pilot program. The
chancellor shall select no more than eight campuses out of eight
separate community college districts to participate in the pilot
program from the districts that apply to be selected. In selecting
campuses for the pilot program, the chancellor shall consider all of
the following:
(1) Geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic diversity.
(2) Labor market demand.
(3) The community college district's program and planning
capacity.
(4) The potential for support from funding partners in industry,
labor, or other private funding sources to reduce the cost of
attendance for students participating in the pilot program.
(b) To be eligible for selection for participation in the pilot
program, an applicant community college campus shall satisfy all of
the following criteria:
(1) Served a number of students equal to or beyond its funding
limit for the two immediately prior academic years, as provided in
the annual Budget Act and as reported by the Office of the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges.
(2) Did not receive a stability adjustment to state apportionment
funding pursuant to Section 58776 of Title 5 of the California Code
of Regulations.
(3) All courses offered for credit that receive state
apportionment funding shall meet basic skills, transfer, or workforce
development objectives.
(c) The chancellor shall review pilot programs, monitor compliance
with the requirements of this article, and have the authority to
rescind the authority to participate in the pilot program if the
chancellor determines that the campus or its district is out of
compliance with this article. A campus selected by the chancellor to
offer extension courses under this section shall comply with all of
the following requirements for participation in the pilot program:
(1) A community college district shall minimize administrative
expenses to the greatest extent possible in the operation of a pilot
program on a participant campus.
(2) Enrollment in the pilot program shall not be reported for
state apportionment funding, but shall be open to the public pursuant
to Section 51006 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3) The governing board of a community college district shall not
expend General Fund moneys to establish and maintain a pilot program.
This prohibition shall not apply to fees generated pursuant to
subdivision (d).
(4) An extension course offered under the pilot program shall not
be offered at times or in locations that supplant or limit the
offering of programs that receive state funding, nor in conjunction
with courses that receive state apportionment funding.
(5) The community college district shall ensure that state and
federal financial aid is available to eligible students who
participate in the pilot program.
(6) The community college district shall provide students who
receive financial aid for the pilot program the same priority for
enrollment as students participating in the pilot program who do not
receive financial aid.
(7) Extension courses offered through the pilot program for credit
shall meet all the requirements, standards, and criteria for courses
specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 55002 of Title 5 of
the California Code of Regulations, including, but not limited to,
all criteria and procedures as prepared, distributed, and maintained
by the chancellor.
(8) Section 87482.6 shall apply to pilot programs offering
extension courses for credit under this section.
(9) Pilot program revenues and expenditures consisting of the
current expense of education, as defined by subdivision (c) of
Section 84362, shall be included by a participating community college
district in complying with subdivision (d) of Section 84362.
(10) The pilot program shall be subject to existing community
college district collective bargaining agreements.
(11) Pilot program credit courses shall not supplant courses
funded with state apportionments. A participating community college
district shall not reduce courses funded with state apportionments,
which are needed by students to achieve basic skills, workforce
training, or transfer goals, to expand those courses as part of the
pilot program.
(12) The community college district shall prioritize enrollment of
students in courses that receive state apportionment funding in
conformance with the legal authority of the community college
district governing board, Section 66025.8, and Section 58108 of Title
5 of the California Code of Regulations, by promoting policies that
do both of the following:
(A) Prioritize enrollment of students in courses that receive
state apportionment funding who are fully matriculated, as defined in
Section 78212, and making satisfactory progress toward a basic
skills, transfer, or workforce development goal.
(B) Do not unfairly or disproportionately shift students who are
eligible for resident tuition, who receive financial aid pursuant to
Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5,
or who are eligible for a fee waiver pursuant to Section 76300 from
courses that receive state apportionment funding to courses offered
under the pilot program.
(d) The governing board of a community college district
participating in the pilot program may establish fees not to exceed
the actual cost of maintaining the pilot program under this section.
For purposes of this subdivision, actual costs shall include all of
the following:
(1) The cost of instruction.
(2) The cost of necessary equipment and supplies, student
services, and institutional support.
(3) The administrative costs incurred by the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges in providing
oversight of the pilot program.
(e) (1) Each community college district participating in the pilot
program shall do both of the following:
(A) Collect and keep records that measure student participation,
student demographics, and student outcomes, in a manner consistent
with measures collected by community college districts in regular
credit courses supported through state apportionment funding,
including an analysis of program effects, if any, on a district's
workload and financial status. A participating community college
district shall submit this information to the chancellor by August 1
of each year.
(B) Submit a schedule of fees established pursuant to subdivision
(d) to the chancellor by August 1 of each year.
(2) The chancellor shall forward the information submitted
pursuant to this subdivision to the Legislative Analyst's Office.
78311. (a) On or before June 30, 2016, the Legislative Analyst's
Office shall provide a report to the Legislature that evaluates the
pilot program established by this article, drawing upon campus
reports; campus visits; interviews with faculty, students, and
administrators; and other sources the Legislative Analyst's Office
deems relevant.
(b) The report prepared pursuant to this section shall include all
of the following:
(1) Summary statistics relating to course offerings, student
enrollment, financing, student utilization of financial aid, funding,
and completion rates for the pilot program.
(2) A determination of the extent to which the pilot program
complies with statutory requirements and the extent to which the
pilot program results in expanded access for students.
(3) An assessment of the effect of the pilot program on the
availability of and enrollment in courses that receive state
apportionment funding, with particular attention to the demographic
makeup and financial aid status of students enrolled in those
courses.
(4) Recommendations as to whether the pilot program should be
extended, expanded, or modified. In making recommendations, the
Legislative Analyst's Office shall consider alternative approaches
that might achieve the goal of expanded access without increasing
state funding.
78312. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.
SECTION 1. Section 78302 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
78302. (a) The governing board of any community college district
may, without the approval of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, establish and maintain an extension program
offering credit courses.
(b) An extension program offering career technical education
credit courses and workforce development courses established under
this section shall have the following characteristics:
(1) The program shall be self-supporting, and all costs associated
with the program shall be recovered.
(2) Program enrollment shall be open to the public.
(3) The program shall be developed in conformance with the
Education Code and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations
governing community college credit courses.
(4) The program shall be subject to district collective bargaining
agreements.
(c) The governing board of a community college district shall not
expend General Fund moneys to establish and maintain an extension
course.
(d) An extension credit course shall not supplant any course
funded with state apportionments. A community college district shall
not reduce a state-funded course section needed by students to
achieve basic skills, workforce training, or transfer goals, with the
intent of reestablishing those course sections as part of the
extension program. The governing board of a community college
district shall annually certify compliance with this subdivision by
board action taken at a regular session of the governing board.
(e) The governing board of a community college district may charge
students enrolled in an extension course a fee not to exceed the
actual cost of maintaining that extension course. An actual cost,
within the meaning of this subdivision, shall include the actual cost
of instruction, necessary equipment and supplies, student services
and institutional support, and other costs of the district used in
calculating the costs of education for nonresident students.
(f) A degree credit course offered as an extension course shall
meet all of the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 55002 of
Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations as it exists on January
1, 2013.
(g) (1) Each community college district maintaining an extension
program offering credit courses under this section shall collect and
keep records that measure student participation, student
demographics, and student outcomes in a manner consistent with
measures collected by community college districts in regular credit
programs supported through state apportionments, including an
analysis of program effects, if any, on district workload and
district financial status. A community college district shall submit
this information to the Office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges by October 1 of each year. For community college
districts operating more than one college, the evaluation shall be
for each participating college.
(2) The chancellor shall submit all of the information provided by
community college districts pursuant to paragraph (1) to the
Legislative Analyst by November 1 of each year. No later than January
1, 2015, the Legislative Analyst shall submit to the Legislature a
written report that includes a summary of the information provided
pursuant to this paragraph, an assessment of the extent to which
community college extension programs are operated in a manner
consistent with legislative intent, and suggestions to the
Legislature for needed statutory improvements. The report submitted
under this paragraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section
9795 of the Government Code.
(h) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.