BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 938
AUTHOR: Weber
AMENDED: June 18, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Public Postsecondary Education Fees.
SUMMARY
This bill defines California State University "student
success fees" and prohibits their imposition or an increase
in the amount of such fees unless approved by a majority
vote of the students voting on the campus, and provides for
an oversight committee, composed of students, faculty and
administrators, as specified, whenever a student success
fee is approved.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes the CSU Trustees to adopt
regulations to require all persons to pay fees, rents,
deposits, and charges for services, facilities or materials
provided by the trustees to such persons. The trustees are
also authorized to provide for the method of collecting
such fees, rents, deposits, and charges, and to provide for
the refund of such fees, rents, deposits, and charges
collected in error or collected for facilities, services,
or materials not utilized. (Education Code � 89700)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Defines a "student success fee" as a category II
campus based mandatory fee that must be paid by a
student to enroll or attend a CSU campus, as
specified.
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2) Authorizes the imposition of, or increase in the
amount of, a student success fee only if such is
approved by a majority vote of the students voting in
an election for this purpose.
3) Requires, if a student success fee or increase in such
a fee is approved by student voters, that an oversight
committee be established and further:
a) Outlines the composition of the
oversight committee to include students, faculty
members, and administrators.
b) Requires that each of the
categories of members be appointed, respectively,
by the campus student body organization, the
campus faculty senate, and the campus president.
c) Requires that the distribution of
membership among these three groups be determined
by the campus student body organization.
4) Makes a conforming change to statute authorizing the
Trustees to require payment of fees, rents, deposits
and charges for services.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . In an attempt to make-up for
budget cuts experienced during the recession, a number
of CSU campuses have adopted student success fees,
which, in some cases, substantially increase the cost
of attendance at a CSU. Since 2011, 12 of the 23 CSU
campuses have adopted such fees. According to the
author, at some campuses this fee results in an
additional cost of $2000 annually. The process for
determining these fees differs at each campus. This
bill attempts to strike the appropriate balance
between a campus' ability to propose student success
fees and the need for transparency, uniformity,
accountability, and adequate student consultation in
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the fee adoption process.
2) Student Success Fees . According to the CSU, student
success fees are category 2 campus-based mandatory
fees. This bill codifies this definition to identify
it as one of five categories of fees which have been
established by CSU Executive Order 1054. The chart
below summaries these fees.
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3) Fee policy and financial aid . According to the CSU,
student success fees are category 2 campus-based
mandatory fees and therefore are treated as such in
financial aid awards. Like other campus-based
mandatory fees they are included in the cost of
attendance, and most low-income students would have
these fees covered via their award package (federal
Pell grant, Cal Grant, State University Grant).
However, there is no specific policy providing for the
provision of financial assistance for purposes of
meeting the costs of student success fees.
4) Similar legislation . As part of the 2014-15 budget,
SB 850 was enacted to prohibit a CSU campus, or the
Chancellor, from approving a student success fee
before January 1, 2016, and to require the Chancellor
to conduct a review of the CSU student fee policy
during the 2014-15 fiscal year. The Chancellor is to
review and recommend change to this policy and is
required to consider several elements including; the
current approval process, the benefit of utilizing an
election or consultation process for approval, the
need for statewide policies governing election or
consultation for approval, means to improve
transparency and accountability regarding campuses use
of these fees, annual reporting on fee use by each
campus, limits on the length of such fees, the impact
of these fees on academic programs and services for
students, especially low income students, and a
provision for financial assistance to offset the cost
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of these fees for low-income students. The Chancellor
is required to report to the Department of Finance
(DOF) and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees
of the Legislature, on February 1, 2015, regarding
proposed revisions to the CSU student fee policy
related to student success fees.
It appears that the issue of student success fees, and
whether or not a vote should be required before their
imposition, is being addressed through the budget
language. This bill, by imposing voting requirements,
would go beyond the provisions that were just enacted.
Budget language currently requires that there be
consideration of the impact of these fees on
low-income students. Although the moratorium does not
allow for the implementation of any new fees, it does
not affect those fees adopted prior to the budget
language. As noted, several campuses have implemented
fees which will continue to be charged of students,
even as the review process occurs.
In deference to the budget trailer bill provisions,
staff recommends the bill be amended to delete the
current contents of the bill and to instead modify
Education Code section 89712, which establishes the
student success fee moratorium, to additionally
require that a campus of the CSU that has implemented
a "student success fee" must use its institutional aid
to cover the cost of these fees for low-income
students, as defined.
SUPPORT
California Faculty Association
California Federation of Teachers
OPPOSITION
California State University
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