BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2548
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 2548 (Ting) - As Amended: March 28, 2014
SUBJECT : Eligibility for admission to postsecondary education:
Report
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to periodically conduct studies of the percentages of California
public high school graduates estimated to be eligible for
admission into the University of California (UC) and the
California State University (CSU).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each local education agency (LEA) to offer a course
of study that prepares prospective pupils for admission to
state colleges and universities.
2)Requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to assist school districts to ensure that all public high
school pupils have access to a core curriculum that meets the
admission requirements of the UC and CSU.
3)Identifies the intent of the Legislature that each public high
school provide the full pre-collegiate program, provide
adequate course sections in pre-collegiate programs to
accommodate all of its pupils, and regularly counsel pupils to
enter those programs and courses.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . AB 770 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 1187,
Statutes of 1973, created the California Postsecondary Education
Commission (CPEC) and made it responsible for the planning and
coordination of postsecondary education. CPEC was charged with
providing analysis, advice, and recommendations to the
Legislature and the governor on statewide policy and funding
priorities. As part of his 2011-12 budget, Governor Brown
proposed eliminating CPEC. Both houses rejected this proposal,
but the governor exercised his line item veto to remove all
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General Fund support for CPEC, describing the commission as
"ineffective." One of the former obligations of the CPEC was to
periodically conduct a freshman eligibility study in order to
determine if UCs and CSUs were drawing from their eligibility
pools set by the state's Master Plan for Higher Education. This
Mater Plan specified that UC and CSU are required to admit
freshman students from among the top 12.5% and 33%,
respectively, of the state's high school graduates. On November
18, 2011, CPEC closed its office and ceased operations.
The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) in their January 2012
report, Improving Higher Education Oversight, contended the
state needs higher education oversight that enables policymakers
and others to monitor how efficiently and effectively the
postsecondary system is serving the state's needs, and make
changes to improve its performance. The LAO recommended this new
entity have independence from the public higher education
segments, have a more unified governing board appointment
process, and be assigned limited and clear responsibilities. A
related measure, AB 1348 (Perez), establishes, the California
Higher Education Authority, its governing board, and its
responsibilities.
In the absence of this new oversight authority, in its February
2014 report, "A Review of State Budgetary Practices for UC and
CSU," the LAO recommended that the Legislature authorize an
updated freshman eligibility study. According to the author, an
updated freshman eligibility study, would be a valuable tool
that will measure whether the state's public university systems
are accessible to the students they are supposed to serve, and
will help determine whether UC and CSU are properly budgeted to
guarantee student success. Previously, CPEC conducted the
eligibility study in cooperation with the UC, CSU, and the CDE.
The study collected transcripts from a sample of high schools
throughout the state, which were analyzed by university staff to
determine if the pattern of courses, grades, and test scores
would make the student eligible for admission to the two
systems. Again according to the author, in addition to simply
determining the percentage of high school graduates eligible for
UC or CSU, the study also revealed important trends about
California's college-ready high school populations that can help
inform K - 12 and higher education policy. For example, the
last eligibility study conducted in 2007 found that the UC
eligibility rate had slightly fallen since the prior study in
2003, but the CSU eligibility had sharply increased by nearly
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20%. The 2007 study also found that the gap in university
eligibility between racial/ethnic groups had narrowed slightly,
but that eligibility rates for Black and Latino graduates were
still far below the eligibility rates for Asian and White
graduates. Results from the eligibility study may be used to
inform adjustments in system eligibility requirements and ensure
the state's Master Plan goals are being met. This bill would
designate CDE to periodically conduct the eligibility study in
light of CPEC's elimination, as CDE had helped CPEC implement
the study in previous years.
In Governor Brown's veto message of the budget line item for
CPEC, he acknowledged the need for coordinating and guiding
state higher education policy and requested that stakeholders
explore alternative ways these functions could be fulfilled.
Thus, the committee may wish to consider whether this bill's
approach of assigning solitary tasks lacks the coordinated
effort sought by Governor Brown and recommended by the LAO. A
coordinated approach can help policymakers consider the higher
education system as a whole and develop policies and budgets
that maximize the system's value to the state, which becomes
increasingly critical in times of limited resources.
Additionally, the committee may wish to consider whether in the
absence of a coordinated effort among the segments of higher
education, the results of such a study can be properly analyzed
and converted to a timely and appropriate action plan or whether
the study will simply be set aside until a coordinated and
comprehensive system is restored. Finally, the committee may
wish to consider whether such an isolated look at eligibility
may yield little usable data or results and therefore, whether
such a report should also include the profile of the average
student who is actually admitted to the UCs/CSUs in an effort to
identify whether there is a gap between the minimum standards
set forth in the state's Master Plan for Higher Education and
the actual coursework, academic achievement, and other criteria
necessary to be admitted to the UCs and CSUs.
Previous Legislation
AB 2190 (John A. P�rez) of 2012, which was held on the Assembly
Committee Appropriations Suspense File, was virtually identical
to this measure.
SB 1138 (Liu) of 2012, which was held on the Senate Committee
Appropriations Suspense File, would have required, on and after
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January 1, 2013, that the CDE, in coordination with the State
Board of Education, succeed to the data management
responsibilities of CPEC with respect to the comprehensive
database referenced above, as specified.
AB 770 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1973, created
CPEC and made it responsible for the planning and coordination
of postsecondary education. CPEC was charged with providing
analysis, advice, and recommendations to the Legislature and the
governor on statewide policy and funding priorities.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087