Bill Text: CA AB19 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 19 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Community colleges: California College Promise.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-10-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 735, Statutes of 2017. [AB19 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB19-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 19

CHAPTER 735

An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 76396) to Chapter 2 of Part 47 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

[ Approved by Governor October 13, 2017. Filed with Secretary of State October 13, 2017. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 19, Santiago. Community colleges: California College Promise.

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 requires the board of governors to waive this fee for students meeting prescribed requirements.

This bill would establish the California College Promise, to be administered by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, which shall distribute funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each community college meeting prescribed requirements to be used to, among other things, accomplish specified policy goals and waive fees for one academic year for first-time students who are enrolled in 12 or more semester units or the equivalent at the college and complete and submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or a California Dream Act application.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Article 3 (commencing with Section 76396) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 47 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:

Article 3. California College Promise

76396.

(a) The California College Promise is hereby established, to be administered by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.

(b) (1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the chancellor shall distribute funding to community college districts to fund colleges that satisfy the requirements of this article.

(2) (A) The chancellor shall establish a funding formula that advances the goals outlined in Section 76396.1.

(B) It is the intent of the Legislature that sufficient funding be allocated to each community college to waive all student fees pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 76396.3.

(C) The funding formula established pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall, for funding appropriated for this article in excess of the funding determined pursuant to subparagraph (B), include, but not be limited to, both of the following factors:

(i) Number of full-time equivalent students at a community college.

(ii) Number of students at a community college who satisfy the requirements to receive federal Pell Grants and the requirements in Section 68130.5.

76396.1.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the California College Promise support the California Community Colleges in accomplishing all of the following goals:

(a) Increasing the number and percentage of high school students who are prepared for and attend college directly from high school and increasing the percentage of high school graduates who are placed directly into transfer-level mathematics and English courses at a community college.

(b) Increasing the percentage of students who earn associate degrees or career technical education certificates that prepare them for in-demand jobs and increasing the percentage of students who report being employed in their field of study.

(c) Increasing the percentage of students who successfully transfer from a community college to the California State University or the University of California and increasing the percentage of students who graduate from college with a baccalaureate degree.

(d) Reducing and eliminating regional achievement gaps and achievement gaps for students from groups that are underrepresented at the California Community Colleges, including, but not limited to, underrepresented students, low-income students, students who are current or former foster youth, students with disabilities, formerly incarcerated students, undocumented students, students meeting the requirements of Assembly Bill 540 of the 2001–2002 Regular Session of the Legislature, and students who are veterans.

76396.2.

The requirements for participation in the California College Promise shall advance the goals outlined in Section 76396.1 and shall include all of the following:

(a) Partnering with one or more local educational agencies to establish an Early Commitment to College Program that is consistent with the intent of Article 6.3 (commencing with Section 54710) of Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 to provide K–12 students and families assistance that includes, but is not limited to, learning about college opportunities, visiting campuses, taking and completing college preparatory courses, and applying for college and financial aid.

(b) Partnering with one or more local educational agencies to support and improve high school student preparation for college and reduce postsecondary remediation through practices that may include, but shall not be limited to, small learning communities, concurrent enrollment, and other evidence-based practices.

(c) Utilizing evidence-based assessment and placement practices at the community college that include multiple measures of student performance, which shall include, among other measures, overall grade point averages, including grades in high school courses, and using evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for underprepared students.

(d) Participating in the California Community College Guided Pathways Grant Program established pursuant to Part 54.81 (commencing with Section 88920) in order to clarify the academic path for students, help students enter a pathway, help students stay on an academic path, and ensure students are learning.

(e) Maximizing student access to need-based financial aid by leveraging the Board of Governors fee waiver established under Section 76300, commonly known as the California Promise Grant, ensuring students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, Cal Grant application, or Dream Act application, and participating in a federal loan program authorized under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.). On or before January 1, 2018, a community college that does not participate in the federal loan program shall be provisionally eligible to participate in the California College Promise for one calendar year. The community college shall comply with the federal loan participation requirements in order to participate in the California College Promise on or after January 1, 2019.

76396.3.

(a) A community college that has been certified by the chancellor as meeting the requirements established under Section 76396.2 shall receive funding pursuant to Section 76396.

(b) The community college may use funding appropriated pursuant to this article to waive some or all of the fees for first-time community college students who are enrolled at the college full time, and complete and submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or a California Dream Act application. A fee waiver that a student receives pursuant to this subdivision shall only be for one academic year and fees shall only be waived for the summer term and each semester or quarter of that year in which the student maintains full-time status. A fee waiver provided pursuant to this subdivision shall not be available to a student who is charged a tuition fee pursuant to Section 76140.

(1) “Full time” means 12 or more semester units or the equivalent.

(2) “One academic year” means the total of the summer term that immediately precedes the first semester or quarter of the fall term, and the two consecutive semesters or three quarters that immediately follow that summer term. Each semester or quarter is approximately the same length.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that funding provided to support the California College Promise be used by the community college to advance the goals outlined in Section 76396.1.