AB 475, as amended, Brown. Student athletes: scholarships.
Existing law provides for a system of postsecondary education in this state. This system includes 4 segments: the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California; the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University; the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges; and independent institutions of higher education.
Existing law establishes the Student Athlete Bill of Rights, pursuant to which, commencing with the 2013-14 academic year, intercollegiate athletic programs at 4-year institutions of higher education in this state, as defined, that receive, as an average, $10,000,000 or more in annual revenue derived from media rights, as defined, for intercollegiate athletics, shall be required to comply with prescribed requirements.
This bill would define the term “licensing fees” for purposes of the Student Athlete Bill of Rights, and would instead make those provisions applicable to intercollegiate athletic programs at 4-year institutions of higher education in the state that receive, as an average, $20,000,000 or more in annual revenue derived from media rights and licensing fees for intercollegiate athletics. The bill would require that, commencing with the 2015-16 academic year, an athletic scholarship given out by a public institution of higher education in the state be guaranteed for 5 academic years or for the completion of a student athlete’s eligibility if the student athlete maintains good standing with the institution he or she attends and continues his or her participation in the sport. The bill wouldbegin delete alsoend deletebegin insert
alsoend insert
require that, commencing with the 2015-16 academic year, a full athletic scholarship given out by a public institution cover the full cost of attendance for the institution the student athlete attends, and include an additional $3,600 student athlete participation stipend.begin insert The bill would also require, commencing with the 2015-16 academic year, if a student athlete decides to transfer from a 4-year university located in California, that the institution of higher education give the student athlete a “permission-to-contact letter,” as defined, and not place any restrictions or conditions on where the student athlete may transfer.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 67451 of the Education Code is amended
2to read:
For purposes of this part:
4(a) “Athletic association” means any organization that is
5responsible for governing intercollegiate athletic programs.
6(b) “Athletic program” means an intercollegiate athletic program
7at any institution of higher education within the meaning of
8subdivision (d).
9(c) “Graduation success rate” means the percentage of student
10athletes who graduate from that institution of higher education
11within six years of their initial enrollment, excluding outgoing
12transfers in good academic standing with athletic eligibility
13remaining, and including incoming transfers. The rate
is to be
14calculated by combining the rates of the four most recent classes
15that are available in the exact manner as the rate is calculated under
16National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.
17(d) “Institution of higher education” means any campus of the
18University of California or the California State University, or any
P3 1four-year private university located in California, that maintains
2an intercollegiate athletic program.
3(e) “Licensing fees” means fees received by an institution of
4higher education for the use of the likeness of the school or one
5or more student athletes to market, promote, or advertise products,
6jerseys, video games, events, literature, or signage.
7(f) “Media rights” means the rights to media coverage
of
8intercollegiate athletics included in contracts that are entered into
9by intercollegiate athletic conferences and television networks and
10that generate monetary payments to individual institutions of higher
11education.
12(g) “Permission-to-contact letter” means written permission
13from the student athlete’s athletic director or designated athletic
14administrator granting the student athlete permission to begin the
15transfer process.
16(g)
end delete
17begin insert(h)end insert “Student athlete”
means any college student who participates
18in an intercollegiate athletic program of an institution of higher
19education, and includes student athletes who participate in
20basketball, football, and other intercollegiate sports.
Section 67452 of the Education Code is amended to
22read:
(a) Commencing with the 2013-14 academic year, an
24athletic program shall comply with all of the following:
25(1) If an athletic program does not renew an athletic scholarship
26of a student athlete who suffers an incapacitating injury or illness
27resulting from his or her participation in the athletic program, and
28the institution of higher education’s medical staff determines that
29he or she is medically ineligible to participate in intercollegiate
30athletics, the institution of higher education shall provide an
31equivalent scholarship that, combined with the total duration of
32any previous athletic scholarship or scholarships received by the
33student athlete, will be provided for a total of up to
five academic
34years or until the student athlete completes his or her undergraduate
35degree, whichever period is shorter. Additional years may be
36provided at the discretion of the institution of higher education.
37(2) If a student athlete takes a temporary leave of absence from
38an institution of higher education, the duration of that leave of
39absence shall not count against the five-year limit on eligibility
40for an equivalent scholarship imposed by paragraph (1).
P4 1(3) An athletic program shall provide an equivalent scholarship
2to a student athlete who was on an athletic scholarship and is in
3good standing, but has exhausted his or her athletic eligibility, for
4up to one year or until the student athlete completes his or her
5primary undergraduate degree, whichever is shorter, except that
6an
athletic program with a graduation success rate that is above
760 percent, disaggregated by team, shall not be subject to the
8requirements of this paragraph.
9(4) A student athlete whose athletic scholarship is terminated
10for cause by an athletic program shall receive no benefits under
11this part, but may appeal this decision within the institution of
12higher education attended by the student or within the athletic
13conference or association of which that institution of higher
14education is a member, as appropriate.
15(b) Commencing with the 2015-16 academic year, an athletic
16scholarship given out by a public institution of higher education
17in the state shall be guaranteed for five academic years or for the
18completion of a student athlete’s eligibility if the student athlete
19maintains
good standing with the institution he or she attends and
20continues his or her participation in the sport.
21(c) Commencing with the 2015-16 academic year, a full athletic
22scholarship given by a public institution of higher education shall
23cover the full cost of attendance for that institution and shall
24include an additional three-thousand-six-hundred-dollar ($3,600)
25student athlete participation stipend.
26(d) Commencing with the 2015-16 academic school year, if a
27student athlete decides to transfer from a four-year university
28located in California, the institution of higher education shall give
29the student athlete a permission-to-contact letter, and not place
30any restrictions or conditions on where the student athlete may
31transfer.
32(d)
end delete
33begin insert(e)end insert Each athletic program shall conduct a financial and life skills
34workshop for all of its first-year and third-year student athletes at
35the beginning of the academic year. This workshop shall include,
36but not be limited to, information concerning financial aid, debt
37management, and a recommended budget for full- and
38partial-scholarship student athletes living on or off campus during
39the academic year and the summer term based on the current
40academic year’s cost of attendance. The workshop shall also
P5 1include information on time management skills necessary for
2success as a student athlete, and academic resources available on
3campus.
4(e)
end delete
5begin insert(f)end insert An institution of higher education shall grant a student athlete
6the same rights as other students with regard to any and all matters
7related to possible adverse or disciplinary actions, including, but
8not necessarily limited to, actions involving athletically related
9financial aid.
10(f)
end delete
11begin insert(g)end insert An athletic program shall respond within seven business
12days with an answer to a student athlete’s written request to transfer
13to another institution of
higher education.
14(g)
end delete
15begin insert(h)end insert An institution of higher education that receives, as an
16average, less than twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) in annual
17income derived from media rights and licensing fees for
18intercollegiate athletics shall not be subject to the requirements of
19this section.
20(h)
end delete
21begin insert(i)end insert An institution of higher education to which this section
22applies shall rely exclusively on revenue derived from media rights
23and licensing fees for intercollegiate athletics to defray any costs
24accrued under this section.
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