BILL NUMBER: SB 1550 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 78021 of, and to add and repeal Article
7.5 (commencing with Section 78310) of Chapter 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 course
pilot program.
(1) 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 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, as defined. The bill would authorize the
governing board of a community college district to apply, and would
require the chancellor to select no more than 5 campuses out of 5
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 above provisions would remain in effect only until January 1,
2019.
(2) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a community
college district to establish contract education programs to provide
specific educational programs or training, as specified.
This bill would prohibit this provision from being construed to
authorize the implementation of a multitiered fee system, as
specified, and would prohibit a community college district from
charging a per unit fee for courses that are in excess of fee amounts
specifically authorized by law, except as provided for in this bill.
The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that these
provisions are declarative of existing law.
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. Section 78021 of the Education Code is amended to read:
78021. (a) The governing board of a community college district
may establish, or with one or more community college districts may
establish, contract education programs within or outside the state by
agreement with a public or private agency, corporation, association,
or other person or body, to provide specific educational programs or
training to meet the specific needs of these bodies.
(b) The contracting community college district or districts shall
recover, from all revenue sources, including, but not limited to,
public and private sources, or any combination thereof, an amount
equal to, but not less than, the actual costs, including
administrative costs, incurred in providing these programs or
training.
(c) The attendance of students in these contract education
programs shall not be included for purposes of calculating the
full-time equivalent students (FTES) for apportionments to these
districts, unless all statutory and regulatory conditions for
generating FTES are met.
(d) (1) This section shall not be construed to authorize the
implementation of a multitiered fee system through the creation of a
foundation or other affiliated entity. A community college district
shall not charge a per unit fee for courses the district, or an
affiliated entity or foundation, offers that are in excess of
applicable fee amounts specifically authorized by law, except as
provided for in Section 78130.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that this subdivision is
declarative of existing law.
SEC. 3. 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) (1) 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 five campuses out of five
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:
(A) Geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic diversity.
(B) Labor market demand.
(C) The community college district's program and planning
capacity.
(D) 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.
(2) For purposes of this section, "career and workforce training
credit courses" include courses identified as vocational in the
California Community Colleges Taxonomy of Programs as it is updated
and revised.
(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.
(4) 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 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.
(5) Prioritize enrollment of students who are eligible for
resident tuition.
(6) (A) Limit the enrollment of students funded by the state in
"activity" courses, as defined in Section 55041 of Title 5 of the
California Code of Regulations. The applicant shall not claim state
apportionment funding for students who repeat either credit courses
or noncredit physical education or visual or performing arts courses
that are part of the same sequence of courses, unless the student is
doing so to meet degree or other local community college district
requirements and is in compliance with Section 55041 of Title 5 of
the California Code of Regulations.
(B) This paragraph shall not apply to disabled students taking
adaptive activity courses, students participating in intercollegiate
athletics, or students with an approved educational plan majoring in
physical education or the performing arts.
(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 (A) Except as
provided for in subparagraph (B), the community college
district shall ensure that state financial aid, including, but
not limited to, Cal Grant awards, and federal financial aid is
available to eligible students who participate in the pilot program.
(B) Students who participate in the pilot program shall not be
eligible to receive a waiver pursuant to Section 76300 for fees
imposed pursuant to subdivision (d).
(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) Adopt enrollment priority and student support policies that
ensure that students who are eligible for state financial aid are not
disproportionately shifted 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.