BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 938
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 938 (Weber)
As Amended July 2, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 30, 2013) |SENATE: |25-7 |(August 20, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Requires a campus of the California State University
(CSU) that has implemented a student success fee to use its
institutional aid to pay the cost of the student success fee for
low-income students.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill
and instead require a CSU campus that has implemented a student
success fee to use institutional aid to pay the cost of the fee
for low-income students.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits a CSU campus, or the CSU Chancellor, from approving
a student success fee before January 1, 2016.
2)Requires, during the 2014-15 fiscal year, the CSU Chancellor
to conduct a review of the CSU Student Fee Policy relating to
student success fees and recommend to the trustees changes to
the fee policy; and requires the review to consider:
a) The approval process for student success fees, including
the benefit of using a student election or the
consultative process in the approval process;
b) The need for statewide policies governing a student
election, the consultative process, or both, for approving
a proposed student success fee;
c) The means to improve transparency and accountability
regarding a campus' use of student success fee funds for
the benefit of members of the campus' community;
AB 938
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d) The development of an annual report describing the use
of student success fee funds by each campus in the prior
academic year, to be posted on each campus' Internet Web
site;
e) The approval of a statewide policy to prohibit a campus
from implementing a student success fee for a period
exceeding five years unless a continuance of that fee is
approved by an affirmative vote of the majority of the
student body voting;
f) The impact of student success fees on campuses' academic
programs and services available for students, including,
but not necessarily limited to, low-income students; and,
g) A provision for financial assistance to offset the cost
of the fee for low-income students.
3)Requires the CSU Chancellor to report to the Department of
Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees by
February 1, 2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potentially significant costs to the CSU, to increase
institutional aid to low-income students who attend campuses
that have enacted student success fees and receive institutional
aid in an amount less than the student success fee level; and,
potentially significant ongoing workload for the CSU to
implement the provisions of this bill ensuring that campuses
provide each low-income student with institutional aid that is
at least equal to a campus's student success fee level, as
applicable.
COMMENTS : 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. Concern over the amount of these fees, the
process used for adoption on campuses, and the impact of the
fees on low-income students led to the Legislature placing a
one-year moratorium on new fees and CSU reporting requirements
(See: Existing Law) in the 2013-14 Budget Act education trailer
bill (SB 860 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), Chapter 34,
Statutes of 2014).
Student success fees are category 2 campus-based mandatory fees.
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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, loans). However, there is no
specific policy providing for the provision of financial
assistance for purposes of meeting the costs of student success
fees. This bill would require institutional aid to cover the
cost of these fees for low-income students.
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved version of this bill was deleted. This bill,
as amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with the Assembly
actions and the provisions of this bill, as amended in the
Senate, have not been heard in an Assembly policy committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0004939