BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2548
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2548 (Ting)
As Amended May 23, 2014
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Ch�vez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Weber, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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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). Specifically this bill :
1)Makes the following legislative findings and declarations:
a) University eligibility studies are an important planning
tool for the UC and the CSU systems and help determine if
the systems are drawing from their eligibility pools set by
the state's Master Plan for Higher Education.
b) University eligibility studies were previously conducted
periodically by the California Postsecondary Education
Commission (CPEC), until the commission ceased operations
in 2011, and a study has not been conducted since 2007.
c) Despite the absence of the CPEC, it is still important
for the state to have measures in place to determine
whether the UC and the CSU are carrying out their goals to
ensure student access and success.
2)Requires the CDE to work collaboratively with the UC and the
CSU to use existing vendors to conduct the study as
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efficiently as possible; and, specifies the study shall be
conducted no more frequently than every four years.
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 : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown General Fund costs to CDE in the range of
$500,000 to $1.1 million to conduct a study of the percentages
of California public high school graduates estimated to be
eligible for admission into the UC and the CSU.
COMMENTS : Background. AB 770 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 1187,
Statutes of 1973, created the 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
Edmund G. Brown proposed eliminating CPEC. Both houses rejected
this proposal, but the Governor exercised his line item veto to
remove all 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 Master Plan of Higher Education
specified that UC and CSU are required to admit freshman
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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 (John A. P�rez) of the current
legislative session, 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
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
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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 Assembly 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 Assembly 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 or 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 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
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.
AB 2548
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Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley and Jill Rice / ED. /
(916) 319-2087
FN: 0003773