Bill Text: CA SB969 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public postsecondary education: student fee policy.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-18 - Read second time. To third reading. [SB969 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB969-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 969	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 28, 2010

INTRODUCED BY    Senator   Florez 
 Senators   Liu   and Romero 
    (   Principal coauthor:   Senator 
 Price   ) 
   (Coauthor: Senator  Price   Hancock  )

                        FEBRUARY 5, 2010

    An act to add Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 66150)
to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating
to public postsecondary education.   An act to add
Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 66027) to Chapter 2 of Part 40
of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to public
postsecondary education. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 969, as amended,  Florez   Liu  .
 Public postsecondary education: California College and
University Fee Stabilization Act of 2010.   Public
postsecondary education: student fee policy.  
   Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, provides
for a public postsecondary education system in this state. This
system consists of the University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges. Existing law
authorizes these institutions to require that mandatory systemwide
fees, among other fees, be paid by students at these institutions.
The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the
University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the
University of California act by resolution to make them applicable.
 
   This bill would limit mandatory systemwide fees that are charged
to resident undergraduate students enrolled in the University of
California and the California State University to a specified amount,
based on the average total cost of education, as defined, at the
respective segment. The bill would prohibit the trustees and the
regents from increasing those mandatory systemwide fees by an amount
exceeding a specified percentage of those fees charged to students
for the immediately preceding academic year, and would prohibit a
specified mandatory systemwide fee increase adopted on or after
January 1, 2011, from being effective before 6 months have elapsed
after the date on which the fee increase is adopted. The bill would
also require the regents and the trustees to develop methodologies
for the adjustment of fees in accordance with a prescribed procedure,
and would require the California Postsecondary Education Commission
to annually review, and report to the Legislature and the Director of
Finance, its findings, conclusions, or recommendations regarding the
implementation of policies implemented pursuant to the bill. 

   This bill would provide that the act does not apply to the
University of California, except to the extent that the Regents of
the University of California adopt a resolution making it applicable.
The bill would request the regents to adopt policies that are
consistent with the act.  
   Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, provides
for a public postsecondary education system in this state. The 3
segments of the public postsecondary education system are the
University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the
University of California, the California State University, which is
administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and
the California Community Colleges, which are administered by the
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and the
community college district governing boards. The provisions of the
Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California
only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California
act by resolution to make them applicable.  
   Existing law authorizes the Trustees of the California State
University to require that fees, among other charges, be paid by
students at that institution. Existing law requires the governing
board of each community college district to charge each student a fee
of $26 per unit per semester, effective with the fall term of the
2009-10 academic year. Existing provisions of the California
Constitution require the Regents of the University of California to
have all powers necessary or convenient for the effective
administration of the university.  
   This bill would enact the California College and University Fee
Stabilization Act of 2010, which would place limits on increases in
mandatory systemwide fees, as defined, charged to students enrolled
in the 3 segments of public postsecondary education. The bill would
limit mandatory systemwide fees that are charged to resident
undergraduate students enrolled in the University of California, the
California State University, or the California Community Colleges to
a specified amount, based on the average total cost of education, as
defined, at the respective segment. The bill would prohibit each of
the 3 segments from charging a resident undergraduate student who
commences enrollment in an undergraduate degree program at that
segment for the fall term of the 2011-12 academic year, or any
academic term thereafter, mandatory systemwide fees in an amount that
is greater than the amount of the fees in effect at the time the
student commenced enrollment in the undergraduate degree program. The
bill would prohibit mandatory systemwide fees charged to resident
undergraduate students enrolled in the University of California and
the California State University from being increased, in any academic
year, by an amount exceeding 5% of the fees charged for the
immediately preceding academic year. With respect to the per unit per
semester fees that community college districts are required to
charge to students enrolled in the California Community Colleges, the
bill would declare legislative intent that those fees not be
increased by an amount exceeding 5% of the fees charged for the
immediately preceding academic year. The bill would prohibit an
increase in mandatory systemwide fees charged to resident
undergraduate students enrolled in any of the 3 segments that is
adopted on or after January 1, 2011, from becoming effective before 6
months have elapsed after the date on which fee increase is adopted.
 
   The bill would provide that the act does not apply to the
University of California, except to the extent that the Regents of
the University of California adopt a resolution making it applicable.
The bill would request the regents to adopt policies that are
consistent with the act. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) The state has long recognized the value of providing broad
access to postsecondary education to the state's citizens. It has
demonstrated that commitment by investing in postsecondary education
and maintaining public student fee levels that are fiscally
responsible and affordable. The student fee principles expressed
herein seek to continue the state's historic commitment to ensuring
access and maintaining quality throughout the state's public
universities while recognizing the fiscal challenges that confront
both the state and postsecondary education.  
   (b) Historically, the state has borne the preponderance of
responsibility for providing the fiscal resources necessary to ensure
that all eligible state residents have access to high-quality
educational opportunities at the state's public colleges and
universities. Further, the state bears the principal and overarching
responsibility for ensuring that all financially needy students have
the financial assistance necessary for them to enroll in institutions
of higher education and complete their postsecondary education
objectives.  
   (c) Changes in resident student fees or in student financial aid
funding or packaging policies should take into consideration the
total cost to the student of attending the university, including
mandatory campus-based student fees, housing and living expenses, as
well as all other expenses associated with university attendance.
 
   (d) Any necessary increases in mandatory systemwide fees should be
accompanied by appropriate increases in funding for need-based
student financial aid. 
   SEC. 2.    Article 3.5 (commencing with Section
66027) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of
the   Education Code  , to read:  

      Article 3.5.  Student Fee Policy


   66027.  The following state policies regarding mandatory
systemwide resident fees and financial aid are established for
students enrolled in the state's public universities:
   (a) The total cost of a public postsecondary education should be a
shared responsibility of students, families, and the State of
California. However, in order to keep resident undergraduate student
fees at the state's public universities as low and affordable as
possible, the state shall bear the preponderance of responsibility
for funding postsecondary education.
   (b) So that students and their families can better prepare
financially for college expenses, any changes in resident student
fees should be gradual, moderate, and predictable. Any potential
adjustments in resident student fees should take into consideration,
and be balanced with, available state General Fund revenues to ensure
that the access, quality, and affordability of the state's public
universities are not adversely affected.
   (c) Changes in resident student fees should take into
consideration a number of factors, including the total cost of
educating a student, the appropriate share of the cost of instruction
to be paid by the student, and information concerning families'
ability to pay. Student financial aid policy and programs should
ensure affordability for students from all income levels. Recognition
of these indicators will better ensure that changes in resident
student fees are gradual and moderate.
   (d) As changes in resident student fees and financial aid
resources are considered, the state should have an understanding of
the impact that these changes will have on both current and
prospective students. Efforts should be employed to mitigate any
negative impact on financially needy students.
   (e) To the extent that budget decisions are made in a timely
manner, adequate advance notice should be provided to students
regarding future student fees, thereby allowing them and their
families greater time to prepare for the fees to be assessed.
   (f) In order to ensure that access is not precluded for any
eligible student, but particularly financially needy students, all
current and prospective students should be provided with timely
information concerning student financial aid, including the processes
associated with applying for and obtaining student financial
assistance.
   (g) Student fee and financial aid policies should encourage and
promote a student's timely completion of the requirements necessary
for degree attainment.
   (h) To ensure that financially needy students are provided with
assistance in managing the total cost of their university attendance,
financial aid programs, including institutional aid, should be
aligned with the distinct financial needs of the systems' student
populations and student fee levels.
   (i) Revenues derived from student fees should remain within the
respective university system's budget in order to provide benefits to
the students enrolled within the system.
   66027.1.  For each of the following segments of public
postsecondary education, the mandatory systemwide fees charged to
resident undergraduate students for any academic year shall not
exceed the following amounts:
   (a) For the University of California, 40 percent of the average
total cost of education for that academic year.
   (b) For the California State University, 30 percent of the average
total cost of education for that academic year.
   66027.2.  (a) In any academic year, the trustees and the regents
shall not increase the mandatory systemwide fees charged to resident
undergraduate students enrolled in the respective institutions by an
amount exceeding the percentage change in the annual average value of
the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases
of Goods and Services for the United States, as published by the
United States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period ending
in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year, of the mandatory
systemwide fees charged to those students for the immediately
preceding academic year.
   (b) This percentage change shall be determined using the latest
data available as of May 10 of the preceding fiscal year compared
with the annual average value of the same deflator for the 12-month
period ending in the third quarter of the second preceding fiscal
year, using the latest data available as of May 10 of the preceding
fiscal year, as reported by the Department of Finance. The total
amount of mandatory systemwide fees, as increased, shall not exceed
the limits described in Section 66027.1.
   66027.3.  Any increase in the mandatory systemwide fees charged to
a resident undergraduate student enrolled in the University of
California or the California State University that is adopted on or
after January 1, 2011, shall not become effective before six months
have elapsed after the date on which the fee increase is adopted.
   66027.4.  To carry out the responsibilities of this section, the
regents and the trustees shall each develop a rational and
transparent methodology for adjusting mandatory systemwide resident
student fees consistent with the student fee policy principles set
forth in Section 66027. These methodologies shall be developed in
consultation with appropriate student representatives through student
fee advisory committees and, once developed, shall be formally
adopted by the regents and the trustees, respectively, in open public
meetings. The annual budgets of the segments shall be drafted on the
basis that fees will change in accordance with the methodology
established under this section.
   66027.5.  Following the final action of its governing body, each
system shall employ appropriate procedures to notify students of the
student fees to be assessed in the upcoming academic year. In
addition, each system shall simultaneously provide students with
information concerning the availability of student financial aid and
the procedures for obtaining that aid in order to assist students
with meeting the increased costs of university attendance.
   66027.6.  (a) Each year, prior to March 1, the California
Postsecondary Education Commission shall review institutional
compliance with the policies set forth in this article, and report,
in writing, to the Legislature and the Director of Finance any
findings, conclusions, or recommendations of the commission regarding
the implementation of these policies.
   (b) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
   66027.7.  As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) (1) "Average total cost of education" means the amount
calculated by dividing the total cost of education for the University
of California or the California State University, whichever is
applicable, by the total number of full-time equivalent students
enrolled at that segment.
   (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), "total cost of education"
means, for the University of California and the California State
University, the sum of appropriations and projected revenues from all
of the following:
   (A) The General Fund.
   (B) Higher education fees and income.
   (C) The California State Lottery Education Fund.
   (b) "Mandatory systemwide fees" means the fees that all students
enrolled in the California State University or the University of
California are required to pay in order to enroll in courses for the
academic term pursuant to any law or any policy adopted by its
governing board.
   (c) "Regents" means the Regents of the University of California.
   (d) "Resident" means a student who is exempt from paying
nonresident tuition pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
68000) of Part 41.
   (e) "Trustees" means the Trustees of the California State
University.
   66027.8.  (a) This chapter shall not apply to the University of
California, except to the extent that the regents, by appropriate
resolution, make this chapter applicable.
   (b) The regents are requested to adopt policies governing
increases in mandatory systemwide fees that are consistent with this
chapter.  
  SECTION 1.    Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
66150) is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education
Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 3.5.  STUDENT FEES


   66150.  This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California College and University Fee Stabilization Act of 2010.
   66151.  As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) (1) "Average total cost of education" means the amount
calculated by dividing the total cost of education for the University
of California, the California State University, or the California
Community Colleges, whichever is applicable, by the total number of
full-time equivalent students enrolled at that segment.
   (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), "total cost of education" means
the following with respect to each of the following segments of
public postsecondary education:
   (A) For the University of California and the California State
University, the sum of appropriations and projected revenues from all
of the following:
   (i) The General Fund.
   (ii) Higher education fees and income.
   (iii) The California State Lottery Education Fund.
   (iv) Reimbursements.
   (B) For the California Community Colleges, the sum of
appropriations and projected revenues from all of the following:
   (i) The General Fund, including appropriations pursuant to Section
8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
   (ii) The State School Fund.
   (iii) The California Lottery Education Fund.
   (iv) Reimbursements.
   (b) "Mandatory systemwide fees" means the fees that all students
enrolled in the California State University or the University of
California are required to pay in order to enroll in courses for the
academic term pursuant to any law or any policy adopted by its
governing board. With respect to the California Community Colleges,
"mandatory systemwide fees" means the fees specified in paragraph (1)
of subdivision (b) of Section 76300.
   (c) "Regents" means the Regents of the University of California.
   (d) "Resident" means a student who is exempt from paying
nonresident tuition pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
68000) of Part 41.
   (e) "Trustees" means the Trustees of the California State
University.
   66152.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Fees at California's public postsecondary educational
institutions, including the University of California, the California
State University, and the California Community Colleges, have
undergone steep increases in recent years.
   (b) Over time, fee levels have been erratic and unpredictable, and
have left families unable to realistically plan for the future.
   (c) Recent fee increases demonstrate a trend toward the state
shifting a greater share of the costs of attaining higher education
onto students and families.
   (d) Students and families face the increased challenge of paying
higher fees and an increased share of educational costs at a time
when state unemployment rates continue to soar and as families
continue to struggle to make ends meet.
   (e) Barriers to attaining higher education posed by skyrocketing,
erratic, and unpredictable fee levels come at a time when experts
warn that California needs to produce more college graduates to meet
the state's workforce and economic needs.
   (f) If the state does not take action to ensure that more
individuals attain a college university education, California will
have one million fewer college graduates than it needs in 2025.
   (g) As of 2025, only 35 percent of working-age adults will have a
college degree in an economy that would otherwise require 41 percent
of workers to have a college degree.
   (h) Failure to address this shortage by, in part, ensuring that
skyrocketing, erratic, and unpredictable fees do not continue to
serve as a barrier to attaining higher education will hamper the
state's economic recovery and threaten California's ability to remain
competitive in the increasingly global economy.
   66154.  By enacting this chapter, it is the intent of the
Legislature to do all of the following:
   (a) Limit the increases in student fees at the state's public
postsecondary educational institutions and help students and families
plan for the future by bringing predictability and consistency to
fee levels over time.
   (b) Enact a rational, moderate, and predictable fee policy that
recognizes the partnership between students, families, and the state
in preparing California's future workforce.
   (c) Ensure that the share of costs that students and families pay
at the state's public postsecondary educational institutions remains
below the national average and reflects a reasonable contribution to
expect from students and families.
   66156.  (a) For each of the following segments of public
postsecondary education, the mandatory systemwide fees charged to
resident undergraduate students for any academic year shall not
exceed the following amounts:
   (1) For the University of California, 40 percent of the average
total cost of education for that academic year.
   (2) For the California State University, 30 percent of the average
total cost of education for that academic year.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that, for any academic
year, the mandatory systemwide fees charged to resident students
enrolled in the California Community Colleges, pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (b) of Section 76300, should not exceed 10 percent
of the average total cost of education for that academic year.
   66158.  Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 76300 or any other law, a community college district, the
trustees, and the regents shall not charge mandatory systemwide fees
to a resident undergraduate student who commences enrollment in an
undergraduate degree program at the respective segment during the
fall term of the 2011-12 academic year, or any academic term
thereafter, in an amount that is greater than the amount of the
mandatory systemwide fees that are in effect for the academic term at
the time he or she commenced enrollment in the undergraduate degree
program.
   66160.  (a) In any academic year, the trustees and the regents
shall not increase the mandatory systemwide fees charged to resident
undergraduate students enrolled in the respective institutions by an
amount exceeding 5 percent of the mandatory systemwide fees charged
to those students for the immediately preceding academic year. The
total amount of mandatory systemwide fees, as increased, shall not
exceed the limits in subdivision (a) of Section 66156.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the fees charged to
students enrolled in the California Community Colleges, as set forth
in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 76300, should not be
increased by an amount exceeding 5 percent of the fees charged to
those students for the immediately preceding academic year and, as
increased, should not exceed the limit in subdivision (b) of Section
66156.
   66162.  (a) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 76300 or any other law, any increase in the mandatory
systemwide fees charged to a resident undergraduate student enrolled
in the University of California, California State University, or a
community college district that is adopted on or after January 1,
2011, shall not become effective before six months have elapsed after
the date on which the fee increase is adopted.
   (b) This section is subject to the restrictions on charging
mandatory systemwide fees set forth in Section 66158. This section is
not intended to permit an institution to charge fees in an amount
greater than permitted pursuant to Section 66158.
   66165.  (a) This chapter shall not apply to the University of
California, except to the extent that the regents, by appropriate
resolution, make this chapter applicable.
   (b) The regents are requested to adopt policies for increases in
mandatory systemwide fees that are consistent with this chapter.