BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1196
AUTHOR: Liu
AMENDED: April 22, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 30, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education statewide goals.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a process for setting specific
educational attainment goals for the state's postsecondary
education segments and requires that these goals guide the
development of five-year plans by the California Community
Colleges (CCC), the California State University (CSU), and
the University of California (UC) for making progress
toward the state's goals to; improve access, equity and
success, better align with workforce and economic needs,
and use resources effectively and efficiently while
maintaining quality .
BACKGROUND
Current law outlines the following three goals for guiding
budget and policy decisions in higher education:
Improved student success, to include, but not be
limited to, greater participation by demographic
groups that have participated at lower rates, greater
completion by all students and improved outcomes for
graduates.
Better alignment of degrees and credentials awarded
with the state's economic, workforce and civic needs.
Effective and efficient use of resources in order
to increase high-quality postsecondary educational
outcomes and maintain affordability. (Education Code
� 66010.91)
Current law also declares the Legislature's intent that
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appropriate metrics be identified, defined, and formally
adopted to monitor progress toward the achievement of the
state's goals. In addition, current law declares the intent
that the metrics be used to ensure the effective and
efficient use of state resources available to postsecondary
education, and that progress on the adopted metrics be
reported and considered as part of the annual State Budget
process.
(EC 66010.93)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Establishes a process for setting specific educational
attainment goals for California's postsecondary
education segments. Specifically it:
a) Requires the Governor, or his
designee to consult with private industry and
policy research entities to identify and
establish specific educational attainment goals
for the State and a target date for their
achievement.
b) Declares the Legislature's intent
that the attainment goals:
i) Be challenging and
quantifiable.
ii) Address achievement gaps for
underrepresented populations.
iii) Increase and align the educational
level of California's adult population to
address the state's economic and workforce
needs.
iv) Be guided by the statewide goals
currently in statute.
Guide the development of the plans (required
by the bill's provisions) to be developed by the segments
for meeting those goals.
2) Requires the CSU Trustees, the CCC Board of Governors,
and the UC Regents to each develop and adopt a 5
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year-plan for making progress toward meeting the
statewide goals.
a) Requires a designee of the
Governor to convene a technical working group, as
specified, to advise in the development of the
plan and requires the technical working group to:
i) Identify and define
specific metrics for measuring performance
and progress toward statewide goals.
ii) Require that the metrics align
with performance measure and outcome
priorities already statutorily established
for the UC, CSU, and CCC.
iii) Include performance measures for
awarding degrees and graduating students
with job skills aligned to workforce and
economic needs.
iv) Develop a coordinated and
centralized process for collecting and
reporting information that will be required
in the plans.
v) Determine and
prescribe various data requirements in order
to align reporting across all three
segments.
vi) Provide its results to the UC,
CSU, and CCC by January 31, 2015, in order
to guide the development of the plans.
b) Requires that the plans include,
but not be limited to, specific objectives for
meeting the state's attainment goals and their
progress in each of the performance measures
established for their respective segments.
c) Requires each of the segments, in
developing their plans to:
i) Establish a process
for setting attainment goals and performance
targets at a regional and campus level.
ii) Collaborate to establish
attainment goals and performance targets
based upon both statewide and regional
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needs.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, this bill
is intended to propose a more collaborative process
that engages the Legislature, the public postsecondary
education segments and the Administration in the
development of the sustainability plans envisioned by
the Governor in his 2014-15 budget proposal. This
bill establishes a process that includes all three
entities to ensure that all participate in the
development of the sustainability plans envisioned by
the Governor. This bill acknowledges that the
segments of postsecondary education have a
responsibility to inform the Legislature and
Administration of their goals and targets and what
they plan to accomplish, but that the State also has a
responsibility to be clear about its needs and
expectations if we are to make progress towards our
statewide goals.
2) Related Budget Activity . The Governor's budget
proposal includes a multi-year funding plan and
related budget bill language requires the UC Regents
and the CSU Board of Trustees to adopt three year
sustainability plans by November 30, 2104 for fiscal
years 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18. These plans are
proposed to include: projections of available
resources, expenditures, enrollment and the
University's goals for each academic year within the
three-year period.
The agenda for the Budget Subcommittee on Education
review of this proposal raised the following for the
Subcommittee's consideration:
a) The Governor's proposal does not set state
performance expectations or link funding to meet
these expectations.
b) The only concrete outcome required by the
proposal is the maintenance of current tuition
and fee levels.
c) The Legislature may want to consider how
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these investments address current and long term
educational needs.
d) The Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) has
suggested that California could connect
university funding with state priorities in a
variety of ways, including the use of performance
measure already required to be reported.
3) California's current educational attainment status ?
The Lumina Foundation recently issued its annual
report, A Stronger Nation through Higher Education,
Closing the Gaps in College Attainment in which it
tracks the nation's progress toward its Goal 2025 (60
percent higher education attainment) using 2012 Census
figures. According to the report, in 2012, 39.4
percent of working-age Americans (25-64) have a two-
or four-year degree, an increase of 0.7 percent from
last year. The increase reflects an increased
attainment rate among young adults (ages 25-34) of
40.9 percent.
In California, 39.7 percent of California's 20.2
million working-age adults (ages 25-64) hold a two- or
four-year college degree, an increase from last year's
rate of 38.9 percent. The state's rate of higher
education attainment is slightly above the national
average of 39.4 percent. The highest degree attainment
rates were Asian (59.4%) and White (51.1), populations
with the lowest degree attainment rate for Hispanics
(16.8%). The percentage of adults with at least an
associate degree, by county, ranged from 19.9 percent
(Merced) to 61.7 percent (San Francisco). The Central
Valley, Imperial Valley and rural northern California
counties hover around 20 percent, while northern
California bay area communities have rates ranging
between 50 and 60 percent.
4) Attainment goals versus statewide goals ? Current law
outlines broad goals for guiding postsecondary
education budget and policy that increase the level of
California's adult population's educational attainment
to meet civic and workforce needs. This bill proposes
a process for developing the specific attainment goals
necessary for this purpose.
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Several California specific and national reports have
highlighted the need to improve overall educational
attainment (i.e. increase the percentage of adults
with meaningful postsecondary credentials) in order to
regain and maintain the State's role as an economic
leader in a global economy. According to California
Competes, a non-profit policy research organization,
California ranks 23rd among states in terms of the
proportion of adults ages 25 to 64 with an associate's
degree or above. In its report, Credential Crunch: How
to Regain California's Economic Standing , it suggests
that attainment goals must focus upon a target
population, the types of credentials, and a target
date for achievement.
The following chart from the report provides a
comparison of the attainment goals suggested by
several different entities:
5) Performance metrics . AB 94 (Committee on Budget,
Chapter 50, Statutes of 2013) required the UC and CSU
to report annually on several performance measures,
beginning in March 2014. It also requires them to
report on the total costs of education system-wide and
by campus, beginning October 1, 2014. The March
report was recently submitted and discussed at a
hearing of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on
Education Finance. At the hearing, the LAO reported
that the segments interpreted some measures
differently, and suggested the Legislature could amend
statute to require the segments to work with
legislative staff and administration to agree on
common data sources, dates and definitions in order to
improve the consistency of the information.
This bill reflects the recommendations made by the LAO
by creating a collaborative process for further
refining metrics and performance measures and related
data requirements. It also ensures the inclusion of a
workforce related metric, which is not currently
captured by existing performance measures.
6) Related informational hearing . On February 26, 2014,
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the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Budget
Subcommittee on Education held a joint informational
hearing, Accountability for Postsecondary Education
Performance: A Framework for Informing State Budget
and Policy to Meet Public Needs, to consider and
discuss the Governor's budgetary proposal, learn more
about California's status in relation to its statewide
goals, and to learn about similar efforts nationally.
The committees heard testimony from researchers,
policy experts and representatives from other states.
The content of this bill reflects much of what was
learned at the hearing.
7) Are these the right consultants ? Among other things,
the informational hearing (see staff comment #6)
focused on the importance of state level leadership to
establish a public agenda and guide the development of
a specific plan to identify and meet the state's
attainment goals. In other states, this role has been
filled by a central coordinating board, an office of
higher education, or a Governor. In the absence of a
higher education coordinating board in California,
this bill directs the Governor, or his designee, to
undertake the task of setting educational attainment
goals related to the state's broader needs and to
consult, as specified, to develop these goals.
The bill currently directs the Governor to consult
with policy research entities and private industry to
set specific educational attainment goals. According
to the author, the intent is to ensure that these
attainment goals are developed using whatever
expertise is necessary to address the state's overall
credential needs, as well as demographic and regional
achievement and workforce gaps. Staff recommends the
bill be amended to authorize the Governor to
additionally consult with any other entity he deems
appropriate for this purpose.
8) Technical amendment . According to the author, the
intent of this bill is to build upon existing
reporting already conducted at the public segments.
At the Community Colleges, the intent was to reference
the statutes that guided the development of the
Student Success Scorecard. Staff recommends the bill
be amended on page 3 line 25 to replace the current
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cross reference with "the outcome priorities developed
pursuant to Education Code � 84754.5."
9) Public but not private ? This bill directs the
Governor to set attainment goals for the segments of
postsecondary education. Current law defines these to
include the UC, CSU, CCC, the independent institutions
of higher education and private postsecondary
educational institutions. This bill only directs the
public institutions to develop the required plans. It
is unlikely that the public segments alone can meet
the degree and credential production needs of the
state. Should private higher education institutions
also be included in the bill?
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.