Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 - 10:03 am :: With the cost of going to college already more than $30,000 a year at many California campuses, is it possible to earn a bachelor's degree for just $10,000 – total?
Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, hopes so.>>
Borrowing an idea being promoted by Republican governors in Texas and Florida, the GOP assemblyman has introduced a bill that would create a pilot program in California for what he's billing as a $10,000 bachelor's degree.
The degree would be available to students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math disciplines.
Assembly Bill 51 calls for closer coordination between high schools, community colleges and California State University campuses and targets three regions for the pilot program: Chico, Long Beach and Turlock.
Participating students would earn some college credit in high school through Advanced Placement classes and greater access to community college courses.
The bill calls for participating community college students to go to school full time.
Tuition at CSU right now is $5,472 a year. Books and campus fees cost another roughly $2,000 annually. A statement from Logue said his proposed $10,000 degree would include textbooks. It does not cover living expenses such as room and board.
"I hope my bill will be the beginning of a revolution to the very pressing issue of the costs of college that students face these days," Logue said in a statement. "We cannot expect today's students to have a higher standard of living than their parents if they continue to leave college saddled with so much debt."
Even on a topic as politically sympathetic as making college more affordable, it remains to be seen if the Republican's bill can make any headway in California's Democratic-controlled Legislature.
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has his own plan for lowering the cost of college – what he calls a "middle-class scholarship" program – and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has said he wants universities to increase affordability by doing more with online education.
CSU officials have not taken a position on the bill.
Logue's bill builds on efforts already under way in California to better streamline K-12 schools, community colleges and universities, said Judy Heiman, a higher education analyst with the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.
"The bill also appears to draw on existing regional education partnerships, an approach we think makes a lot of sense," Heiman wrote in an email. "In addition, the incentives in the bill for full time attendance would support current efforts to improve graduation rates."
BILL NUMBER: AB 51 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Logue
DECEMBER 21, 2012
An act to add Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 66650) to Part
40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to public
postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 51, as introduced, Logue. Public postsecondary education:
Baccalaureate Degree Pilot Program.
(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and
secondary schools operated by local educational agencies throughout
the state. Existing law also establishes a system of public
postsecondary education in this state that includes 3 segments: the
California Community Colleges, the California State University, and
the University of California.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to establish
a pilot program with the goal of creating a model of articulation
and coordination among K-12 schools, community colleges, and campuses
of the California State University that will allow students to earn
a baccalaureate degree for a total cost not exceeding $10,000,
including textbooks. The bill would establish a Baccalaureate Degree
Pilot Program that would include campuses of the California State
University, community college districts, and county offices of
education in 3 areas of the state. The bill would require the public
postsecondary educational institutions and local educational agencies
participating in the pilot program to coordinate their efforts to
expedite the progress of participating students from high school to
community college to California State University. Because the bill
would impose new duties on community college districts and county
offices of education, it would constitute a state-mandated local
program.
The bill would authorize participating high school students to
earn an unlimited number of Advanced Placement course credits, and
provide these students with priority enrollment at participating
community colleges. The bill would impose grade point average and
time requirements on participating students at the community college
stage of the pilot program. The bill would require a participating
California State University campus to accept a minimum of 60 semester
units earned by a participating student at a high school or
community college. The bill would prohibit the mandatory systemwide
fees and tuition and mandatory campus-based fees charged to a
participating student from being increased during the first 2
academic years of his or her attendance at a California State
University campus under the pilot program.
(2) 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. Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 66650) is added to
Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 8.5. BACCALAUREATE DEGREE PILOT PROGRAM
66650. It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a pilot
program with the goal of creating a model of articulation and
coordination among K-12 schools, community colleges, and campuses of
the California State University that will allow students to earn a
baccalaureate degree for a total cost not exceeding ten thousand
dollars ($10,000), including textbooks.
66651. (a) The Baccalaureate Degree Pilot Program is hereby
established. The pilot program shall include participating public
postsecondary educational institutions and local educational agencies
in three areas, as follows:
(1) California State University, Chico; the Yuba Community College
District; the Butte Community College District; the Butte County
Office of Education; and the Yuba County Office of Education.
(2) California State University, Long Beach; the Long Beach
Community College District; and the Los Angeles County Office of
Education.
(3) California State University, Stanislaus; the San Joaquin Delta
Community College District; and the San Joaquin County Office of
Education.
(b) The public postsecondary educational institutions and local
educational agencies participating in the pilot program shall
coordinate their efforts to expedite the progress of participating
students from high school to community college to California State
University to earn their baccalaureate degrees.
66652. Notwithstanding any other law:
(a) In each of the areas designated in subdivision (a) of Section
66651, the number of Advanced Placement (AP) course credits that a
participating high school pupil may earn is unlimited.
(b) A participating student may attend and earn college course
credit at either his or her high school or at a participating
community college.
(c) In order to earn college course credit under the pilot program
for college-level course work undertaken before graduation from high
school, a participating student shall earn a score of three or
better on the AP examination for each college-level course.
(d) A participating student shall receive priority enrollment
status at a participating community college, and be required to
enroll at that community college either in the summer term or the
fall semester immediately succeeding that pupil's graduation from
high school.
(e) In order to remain in the pilot program, a participating
student shall maintain a grade point average of at least 2.0 on a
4-point scale at the community college he or she attends pursuant to
the pilot program.
(f) A participating student shall attend community college full
time, shall take no less than 12 semester units each semester, and
shall complete his or her associate of arts transfer degree in not
less than two years from the date he or she enrolled at the community
college.
(g) A participating California State University campus shall
accept a minimum of 60 semester units earned by a participating
student at either a high school or a community college pursuant to
the pilot program.
(h) The mandatory systemwide fees and tuition and mandatory
campus-based fees charged to a participating student shall not be
increased during the first two academic years of his or her
attendance at a California State University campus pursuant to the
pilot program.
SEC. 2. 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.
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