Bill Text: CA AB1583 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Community colleges: enrollment fee waiver.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Senate committee without further action. [AB1583 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1583-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1583 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Santiago
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Medina and Rodriguez)
JANUARY 5, 2016
An act to amend Section 76300 of, and to add Section
76300.1 to, of the Education Code, relating to
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1583, as amended, Santiago. Community colleges: enrollment fee
waiver and additional assistance. waiver.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary
education in this state. Existing law authorizes the establishment of
community college districts under the administration of community
college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide
instruction at community college campuses throughout the state.
Existing law requires community college district governing boards to
charge students an enrollment fee of $46 per unit per semester.
Existing law provides for the waiver of this fee under certain
circumstances, including, among others, that the student either (1)
at the time of enrollment is a recipient under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Security
Income/State Supplementary Payment Program, or a general assistance
program, (2) demonstrates eligibility according to income standards
established by regulation of the board of governors, or (3)
demonstrates financial need in accordance with methodology set forth
in federal law or regulation for determining the expected family
contribution of students seeking aid.
This bill would lower the amount of unmet financial need a student
needs to demonstrate to qualify for a fee waiver to at least one
dollar. The bill would require the board of governors, by
January 1, 2018, to ensure a fee waiver application is available to
be completed and submitted electronically by students at each
community college. The bill would require the board of governors to
establish a need-based aid program to provide fee waiver recipients
with financial resources, not to exceed $1,000 per student per year,
for the purpose of offsetting a portion of the costs associated with
the purchase of books, supplies, transportation, and other general
living expenses. To the extent the bill would impose new
duties on community college districts, it would constitute a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish
the California Promise a California
affordability promise to ensure more
Californians have the opportunity to access and afford community
college in California.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) California's 1960 "A Master Plan for Higher Education in
California" affirmed the state's commitment to a system of higher
education combining exceptional quality with broad access.
(2) The California Community College system is the largest system
of higher education in the United States, offering associate degrees
and certificates in more than 175 fields to 2.1 million students on
113 campuses.
(3) For every dollar California invests to get students into and
through college, the state receives a $4.50 net return on investment.
(4) In 2025, California faces an estimated shortage of one million
college degree and certificate holders needed to sustain the state's
workforce.
(5) To meet the demand for college degree and certificate holders,
California has and must continue to invest significantly in
need-based financial aid for California community college students,
including the California Community Colleges Board of Governors
Enrollment Fee Waiver Program and the Cal Grant Program.
(6) The fee waiver program
(1) The California Community Colleges
Board of Governors Enrollment Fee Waiver Program
offsets tuition and fees for more than 60 percent of full-time
community college students and nearly half of all community college
students, with the only requirements being that students demonstrate
financial need and meet reasonable academic progress standards.
(7)
( 2) Despite the many strengths of the fee
waiver program, eligibility is currently limited to students with a
minimum need of $1,104.
(8) Community college access and affordability are not exclusively
tied to tuition and fees; for instance, nontuition costs such as
textbooks, transportation, food, housing, and other college-related
expenses can represent more than 90 percent of the total cost of
attending community college, thereby preventing students from
successfully enrolling in and completing community college.
(9) Although California has devoted considerable resources to
need-based aid at the California Community Colleges, not every
student with need is able to access or receive aid to offset tuition
or nontuition expenses.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure all Californians
with financial need are able to access and afford community
college in California. eligible for an enrollment fee
waiver at the California Community Colleges.
SEC. 2. Section 76300 of the Education Code is amended to read:
76300. (a) The governing board of each community college district
shall charge each student a fee pursuant to this section.
(b) (1) The fee prescribed by this section shall be forty-six
dollars ($46) per unit per semester, effective with the summer term
of the 2012 calendar year.
(2) The board of governors shall proportionately adjust the amount
of the fee for term lengths based upon a quarter system, and also
shall proportionately adjust the amount of the fee for summer
sessions, intersessions, and other short-term courses. In making
these adjustments, the board of governors may round the per unit fee
and the per term or per session fee to the nearest dollar.
(c) For the purposes of computing apportionments to community
college districts pursuant to Section 84750.5, the board of governors
shall subtract, from the total revenue owed to each district, 98
percent of the revenues received by districts from charging a fee
pursuant to this section.
(d) The board of governors shall reduce apportionments by up to 10
percent to any district that does not collect the fees prescribed by
this section.
(e) The fee requirement does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Students enrolled in the noncredit courses designated by
Section 84757.
(2) California State University or University of California
students enrolled in remedial classes provided by a community college
district on a campus of the University of California or a campus of
the California State University, for whom the district claims an
attendance apportionment pursuant to an agreement between the
district and the California State University or the University of
California.
(3) Students enrolled in credit contract education courses
pursuant to Section 78021, if the entire cost of the course,
including administrative costs, is paid by the public or private
agency, corporation, or association with which the district is
contracting and if these students are not included in the calculation
of the full-time equivalent students (FTES) of that district.
(f) The governing board of a community college district may exempt
special part-time students admitted pursuant to Section 76001 from
the fee requirement.
(g) (1) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for
any student who meets all of the following requirements:
(A) Meets minimum academic and progress standards adopted by the
board of governors, which fulfill the requirements outlined in this
paragraph and paragraphs (2) to (5), inclusive. Any minimum academic
and progress standards adopted pursuant to this section shall be
uniform across all community college districts and campuses. These
standards shall not include a maximum unit cap, and community college
districts and colleges shall not impose requirements for fee waiver
eligibility other than the minimum academic and progress standards
adopted by the board of governors and the requirements of
subparagraph (B).
(B) Meets one of the following criteria:
(i) At the time of enrollment, is a recipient of benefits under
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental
Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program, or a general
assistance program.
(ii) Demonstrates eligibility according to income standards
established by regulations of the board of governors.
(iii) Demonstrates financial need of at least one dollar in
accordance with the methodology set forth in federal law or
regulation for determining the expected family contribution of
students seeking financial aid.
(2) (A) The board of governors, in consultation with students,
faculty, and other key stakeholders, shall consider all of the
following in the development and adoption of minimum academic and
progress standards pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1):
(i) Minimum uniform academic and progress standards that do not
unfairly disadvantage financially needy students in pursuing their
education.
(ii) Criteria for reviewing extenuating circumstances and granting
appeals that, at a minimum, take into account and do not penalize a
student for circumstances outside his or her control, such as
reductions in student support services or changes to the economic
situation of the student.
(iii) A process for reestablishing fee waiver eligibility that
provides a student with a reasonable opportunity to continue or
resume his or her enrollment at a community college.
(B) To ensure that students are not unfairly impacted by the
requirements of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), the board of
governors shall establish a reasonable implementation period that
commences no sooner than one year from adoption of the minimum
academic and progress standards, or any subsequent changes to these
standards, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and that is
phased in to provide students adequate notification of this
requirement and information about available support resources.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that minimum academic and
progress standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(1) be implemented only as campuses develop and implement the student
support services and interventions necessary to ensure no
disproportionate impact to students based on ethnicity, gender,
disability, or socioeconomic status. The board of governors shall
consider the ability of community college districts to meet the
requirements of this paragraph before adopting minimum academic and
progress standards, or any subsequent changes to these standards,
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1).
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that a student
shall not lose fee waiver eligibility without a community college
campus first demonstrating a reasonable effort to provide a student
with adequate notification and assistance in maintaining his or her
fee waiver eligibility. The board of governors shall adopt
regulations to implement this paragraph that ensure all of the
following:
(A) Students are provided information about the available student
support services to assist them in maintaining fee waiver
eligibility.
(B) Community college district policies and course catalogs
reflect the minimum academic and progress standards adopted pursuant
to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and that appropriate notice is
provided to students before the policies are put into effect.
(C) A student does not lose fee waiver eligibility unless he or
she has not met minimum academic and progress standards adopted
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) for a period of no less
than two consecutive academic terms.
(5) The board of governors shall provide notification of a
proposed action to adopt regulations pursuant to this subdivision to
the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature in
accordance with the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
of Section 70901.5. This notification shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following:
(A) The proposed minimum academic and progress standards and
information detailing how the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (4),
inclusive, have been or will be satisfied.
(B) How many students may lose fee waiver eligibility by
ethnicity, gender, disability, and, to the extent relevant data is
available, by socioeconomic status.
(C) The criteria for reviewing extenuating circumstances, granting
appeals, and reestablishing fee waiver eligibility pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(h) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any
student who, at the time of enrollment, is a dependent or surviving
spouse who has not remarried, of any member of the California
National Guard who, in the line of duty and while in the active
service of the state, was killed, died of a disability resulting from
an event that occurred while in the active service of the state, or
is permanently disabled as a result of an event that occurred while
in the active service of the state. "Active service of the state,"
for the purposes of this subdivision, refers to a member of the
California National Guard activated pursuant to Section 146 of the
Military and Veterans Code.
(i) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any
student who is the surviving spouse or the child, natural or adopted,
of a deceased person who met all of the requirements of Section
68120.
(j) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any
student in an undergraduate program, including a student who has
previously graduated from another undergraduate or graduate program,
who is the dependent of any individual killed in the September 11,
2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or
the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in southwestern Pennsylvania,
if that dependent meets the financial need requirements set forth in
Section 69432.7 for the Cal Grant A Program and either of the
following applies:
(1) The dependent was a resident of California on September 11,
2001.
(2) The individual killed in the attacks was a resident of
California on September 11, 2001.
(k) A determination of whether a person is a resident of
California on September 11, 2001, for purposes of subdivision (j)
shall be based on the criteria set forth in Chapter 1 (commencing
with Section 68000) of Part 41 of Division 5 for determining
nonresident and resident tuition.
(l) (1) "Dependent," for purposes of subdivision (j), is a person
who, because of his or her relationship to an individual killed as a
result of injuries sustained during the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, qualifies for compensation under the federal
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (Title IV (commencing
with Section 401) of Public Law 107-42).
(2) A dependent who is the surviving spouse of an individual
killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is entitled to
the waivers provided in this section until January 1, 2013.
(3) A dependent who is the surviving child, natural or adopted, of
an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,
is entitled to the waivers under subdivision (j) until that person
attains 30 years of age.
(4) A dependent of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001, who is determined to be eligible by the
California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, is also
entitled to the waivers provided in this section until January 1,
2013.
(m) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that sufficient funds
be provided to support the provision of a fee waiver for every
student who demonstrates eligibility pursuant to subdivisions (g) to
(j), inclusive.
(2) From funds provided in the annual Budget Act, the board of
governors shall allocate to community college districts, pursuant to
this subdivision, an amount equal to 2 percent of the fees waived
pursuant to subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive. From funds provided
in the annual Budget Act, the board of governors shall allocate to
community college districts, pursuant to this subdivision, an amount
equal to ninety-one cents ($0.91) per credit unit waived pursuant to
subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive. It is the intent of the
Legislature that funds provided pursuant to this subdivision be used
to support the determination of financial need and delivery of
student financial aid services, on the basis of the number of
students for whom fees are waived. It also is the intent of the
Legislature that the funds provided pursuant to this subdivision
directly offset mandated costs claimed by community college districts
pursuant to Commission on State Mandates consolidated Test Claims
99-TC-13 (Enrollment Fee Collection) and 00-TC-15 (Enrollment Fee
Waivers). Funds allocated to a community college district for
determination of financial need and delivery of student financial aid
services shall supplement, and shall not supplant, the level of
funds allocated for the administration of student financial aid
programs during the 1992-93 fiscal year.
(n) The board of governors shall adopt regulations implementing
this section.
(o) By January 1, 2018, the board of governors shall ensure a fee
waiver application is available to be completed and submitted
electronically by students at each community college.
SEC. 3. Section 76300.1 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
76300.1. (a) The board of governors shall establish a need-based
aid program to provide fee waiver recipients with financial
resources, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) per student
per year, for the purpose of offsetting a portion of the costs
associated with the purchase of books, supplies, transportation, and
other general living expenses.
(b) Eligibility for the program described in subdivision (a) shall
be determined by utilizing the student's Free Application for
Federal Student Aid, or California Dream Act Application, whichever
applies.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
