BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2247|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2247
Author: Williams (D)
Amended: 8/4/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/18/14
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Huff, Monning
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: accreditation documents
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires all campuses of every public and
private postsecondary education institution in California that
receives state or federal financial aid funding to make
available on the institution's Internet Web site the following
accreditation documents: the institution's institutional
accreditation visiting team reports and the institutional
accreditation agency action letters, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires, as a condition of participation in state financial
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aid programs administered by the California Student Aid
Commission, an institution to be accredited by an accrediting
agency recognized by the United States Department of Education
(USDE).
2.Requires the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to
issue an approval to operate private institutions that are
accredited by a USDE-recognized accrediting agency.
This bill:
1.Requires all campuses or other units of any segment of
postsecondary education that receive public funding through
state or federal financial aid programs, are institutionally
recognized by the USDE, and offer education and training
programs to California students make final institutional
accreditation documents available to the public once those
documents have been made final through an action of the
accrediting agency, via display in a prominent location on the
institution's Internet Web site, with a link to those
documents on the institutional Internet Web site homepage.
2.Requires a campus or other unit of any segment of
postsecondary education whose documents are not currently
available to the public, make available all institutional
accreditation documents finalized by the accrediting agency
based on reviews that take place after July, 1, 2015, as
specified.
3.Defines specified terms as follows:
A. Institutional accreditation documents means the
institution's institutional accreditation visiting team
reports and the institutional accreditation action letters
following an accreditation agency's action relating to an
initial accreditation, reaffirmation, comprehensive review,
special visit, or any sanction or adverse action taken
against an affiliated institution.
B. Segment of postsecondary education means the California
Community Colleges, the California State University, the
University of California, the independent institutions of
higher education as defined in Section 66010, or the
private postsecondary educational institutions as defined
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in Section 94858.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/14)
California Competes
Center for Public Interest Law
Children's Advocacy Institute
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
The Institute for College Access and Success
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
California relies heavily on accrediting agencies to ensure that
colleges and universities are providing quality educational
programs for students. By obtaining accreditation, private
(including for-profit) institutions are guaranteed the ability
to operate in California, and both public and private
institutions are provided access to billions of dollars in state
and federal financial aid funding. Yet, the state's ability to
monitor the work of accrediting agencies themselves, however, is
virtually nonexistent. The Education Code is silent on this
issue as it does not currently require any public posting of
accreditation documents. Additionally, not all colleges
routinely make their accreditation documents available to the
public and the ones that do, do so voluntarily. In light of
this, this bill is aimed at ensuring a basic level of
transparency in the accreditation process by providing public
access to the substance of accreditation reviews. It is also
important to note that there is a move in the direction for
additional transparency. As of June 2012, the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges will post all evaluation
team reports and accrediting agency letters following the
relevant accrediting agency action.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
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Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mansoor, Vacancy
PQ:e 8/11/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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