Bill Text: CA AB2099 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Postsecondary education: Title 38 awards.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 676, Statutes of 2014. [AB2099 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2099-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2099 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 676
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 7, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Frazier
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Chávez)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Medina and Williams)
(Coauthor: Senator Correa)
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to add Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 67100) to Part
40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2099, Frazier. Postsecondary education: Title 38 awards.
Title 38 of the United States Code provides educational awards for
eligible active duty members and veterans of the Armed Forces of the
United States. Existing law requires an institution headquartered or
operating in California desiring to enroll students eligible for
federal Title 38 awards in accredited institutions and programs to
make application for approval of these courses to the California
State Approving Agency for Veterans Education, commonly known as
CSAAVE, and authorizes CSAAVE to approve the application of the
school when the school and its accredited courses satisfy the
specified criteria and any additional reasonable criteria established
by CSAAVE.
Unless an exception applies, this bill would deem a public or
private postsecondary educational institution that is accredited by
an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of
Education eligible for Title 38 awards if the institution satisfies
specified criteria for qualification for Title 38 awards in the bill.
The bill would, if another specified bill is enacted, deem an
institution that may claim a specified exemption from the
requirements of the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of
2009 eligible for Title 38 awards if the institution satisfies other
criteria for qualification for Title 38 awards in this bill. The
bill would deem a private postsecondary educational institution
eligible for Title 38 awards if the institution is issued an approval
to operate from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, as
specified, and satisfies the other criteria for qualification for
Title 38 awards in the bill.
The bill would require CSAAVE to notify initial Title 38
recipients seeking to attend, or attending, an institution that is
ineligible for Title 38 awards that the institution is ineligible for
Title 38 awards for the academic year, and to provide initial and
renewal Title 38 recipients at an ineligible institution with a
complete list of all California postsecondary educational
institutions at which the student would be eligible to receive a
Title 38 award.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 67100) is added
to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 12.5. TITLE 38 AWARDS
67100. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Section 21.4253 of Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations
requires a postsecondary educational institution headquartered or
operating in California desiring to enroll veterans or persons
eligible for Title 38 awards in accredited institutions and programs
to make application for approval of these courses to the California
State Approving Agency for Veterans Education, commonly known as
CSAAVE, as the state approving agency legally designated pursuant to
Section 3671 of Subchapter I of Chapter 36 of Title 38 of the United
States Code.
(b) Section 21.4253 authorizes CSAAVE to approve the application
of the accredited institutions when the school and its accredited
courses satisfy the criteria provided in Section 21.4253 and
additional reasonable criteria established by CSAAVE.
(c) It is reasonable pursuant to Section 21.4253 for CSAAVE to
require a postsecondary educational institution, public or private,
to obtain accreditation for its degree programs, to comply with all
federal and state laws and regulations, and to comply with any
additional reasonable criteria established by CSAAVE. It is
reasonable pursuant to Section 21.4253 for CSAAVE to require a
private postsecondary institution to be issued an approval to operate
from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
67101. The Title 38 Funding Program is hereby established, under
the administration of the California State Approving Agency for
Veterans Education. The California State Approving Agency for
Veterans Education shall approve qualifying institutions desiring to
enroll veterans or persons eligible for Title 38 awards in accordance
with federal law, this chapter, and other reasonable criteria
established by the California State Approving Agency for Veterans
Education.
67102. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) An "academic year" is July 1 to June 30, inclusive. The
starting date of a session shall determine the academic year in which
it is included.
(b) "CSAAVE" is the California State Approving Agency for Veterans
Education.
(c) (1) "Qualifying institution" means a degree-granting
institution that complies with paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), or a
nondegree-granting institution that complies with paragraphs (2) and
(4).
(2) (A) The institution shall provide information on where to
access California license examination passage rates for the most
recent available year from graduates of its undergraduate programs
leading to employment for which passage of a California licensing
examination is required, if that data is electronically available
through the Internet Web site of a California licensing or regulatory
agency. For purposes of this paragraph, "provide" may exclusively
include placement of an Internet Web site address labeled as an
access point for the data on the passage rates of recent program
graduates on the Internet Web site where enrollment information is
also located, on an Internet Web site that provides centralized
admissions information for postsecondary educational systems with
multiple campuses, or on applications for enrollment or other program
information distributed to prospective students.
(B) The institution shall be responsible for certifying to CSAAVE
compliance with the requirements of subparagraph (A).
(3) (A) A degree-granting institution shall provide evidence of
accreditation of the institution and of all degree programs to
CSAAVE. The accrediting agency shall be recognized by the United
States Department of Education. An unaccredited degree-granting
institution participating in the Title 38 award program on January 1,
2015, shall satisfy both of the following to remain eligible to
receive Title 38 awards:
(i) The institution shall obtain and provide evidence to CSAAVE of
its candidacy or preaccreditation status, with an accrediting agency
recognized by the United States Department of Education, by January
1, 2016, for the institution to be eligible for Title 38 awards for
the academic year of 2015-16, or 2016-17, or both.
(ii) The institution shall obtain and provide evidence to CSAAVE
of accreditation from the accrediting agency with which it had
candidacy or preaccreditation status by January 1, 2017, for the
institution to be eligible for Title 38 awards for the academic year
of 2017-18, and each academic year thereafter.
(B) If an unaccredited degree-granting institution participating
in the Title 38 award program fails to satisfy the accreditation
requirements provided in clause (i) of subparagraph (A), a veteran
enrolled in a degree program offered by the institution prior to
January 1, 2016, shall remain eligible for Title 38 awards through
his or her completion of that degree program. If an unaccredited
degree-granting institution participating in the Title 38 award
program fails to satisfy the accreditation requirements provided in
clause (ii) of subparagraph (A), a veteran enrolled in a degree
program offered by the institution prior to January 1, 2017, shall
remain eligible for Title 38 awards through his or her completion of
that degree program.
(C) An unaccredited degree-granting institution that does not
satisfy the accreditation requirements provided in clause (i) of
subparagraph (A), shall not enroll any new Title 38 eligible students
to any of its degree programs after January 1, 2016. An unaccredited
degree granting institution that does not satisfy the accreditation
requirements provided in clause (ii) of subparagraph (A), shall not
enroll any new Title 38 students to any of its degree programs after
January 1, 2017, without first providing these prospective students
with the following written disclosure:
"If you choose to attend this institution, you will not be
eligible to receive a Title 38 award because this institution did not
satisfy one or more of the accreditation requirements to receive
Title 38 awards."
(4) The institution shall be one of the following to be eligible
for Title 38 awards:
(A) A campus of the California Community Colleges, the California
State University, or the University of California.
(B) An independent institution of higher education, as defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 66010.
(C) (i) For purposes of the 2015-16 award year, a private
postsecondary educational institution, as defined in Section 94858.
(ii) For purposes of the 2016-17 award year, and every award year
thereafter, a private postsecondary educational institution, as
defined in Section 94858, that has an approval to operate from the
Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, is subject to the
regulatory oversight and enforcement of student protections provided
by the bureau, and has its approval to operate certified by CSAAVE.
(D) (i) An institution described in subdivision (i) of Section
94874 that satisfies all of the requirements provided in Section
94947.
(ii) This subparagraph shall become operative only if Senate Bill
1247 of the 2013-14 Regular Session is enacted and adds Section 94947
to this code.
67103. CSAAVE shall do all of the following:
(a) Notify initial Title 38 recipients seeking to attend, or
attending, an institution that is ineligible for Title 38 awards
under this chapter that the institution is ineligible for Title 38
awards for the academic year for which the student received a Title
38 award.
(b) Provide initial and renewal Title 38 recipients seeking to
attend, or attending, an institution that is ineligible for Title 38
awards at the institution under this chapter with a complete list of
all California postsecondary educational institutions at which the
student would be eligible to receive a Title 38 award.
(c) Commencing for purposes of the 2016-17 award year, and every
award year thereafter, certify whether a private postsecondary
educational institution has been issued an approval to operate from
the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.
67104. Compliance with this chapter, in and of itself, shall not
be construed as satisfying the requirements for participation in
programs authorized by the federal Higher Education Act, including,
but not limited to, Section 600.9 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.
