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AB-2820 The California Online Community College. (2021-2022)

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Date Published: 02/18/2022 09:00 PM
AB2820:v99#DOCUMENT

Revised  April 27, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2820

Introduced by Assembly Member Medina Members Medina and Quirk-Silva
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Carrillo, O’Donnell, Robert Rivas, and Seyarto)
(Coauthors: Senators Newman, Nielsen, Umberg, Wiener, and Wilk)

February 18, 2022

An act to add Section 75013 to, and to repeal Part 46.5 (commencing with Section 75000) of Division 7 of Title 3 of, the Education Code, relating to community colleges, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2820, as introduced, Medina. The California Online Community College.
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. The board of governors appoints the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges as the chief executive officer of the segment.
Existing law establishes the California Online Community College, under the administration of the board of governors, for purposes of creating an organized system of accessible, flexible, and high-quality online content, courses, and programs focused on providing industry-valued credentials compatible with the vocational and educational needs of Californians who are not currently accessing higher education.
This bill would make the California Online Community College Act inoperative on January 1, 2024. On or before January 1, 2024, the bill would appropriate the California Online Community College’s funding for specified purposes at the California Community Colleges, as provided.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   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) In 2020 and 2021, both the Assembly and the Senate recommended defunding and closing the California Online Community College, established pursuant to Part 46.5 (commencing with Section 75000) of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code.
(b) By the end of the 2021–22 fiscal year, the California Online Community College has received a total of $75,000,000, with $60,000,000 in one-time funding and $15,000,000 in ongoing annual funding.
(c) Since its beginning and through 2021, the California Online Community College has enrolled 1,000 students but only 70 students have completed a certificate program.
(d) In October 2021, the California Online Community College reported over 60 percent of its new enrollees dropping out, with 129 new enrollees and 79 withdrawals for the current fiscal year.
(e) Total enrollment remains at 518 even with the California State Auditor finding that in 2021 the $15,000,000 of ongoing annual funding paid for only five instructors.
(f) In explaining their performance, the California Online Community College Board Chair described its students as, “Many of them are parents ... many are low income.”
(g) In 2021, the University of California, Davis released a report describing California’s overall “students with dependent children” population as a total of 145,000 community college students with dependent children, 80 percent of whom are women with an average age of 33 and having on average three children, 48 percent of whom are Latino, 13 percent of whom are Black, and 14 percent of whom are Asian, and that their average annual income is $28,000.
(h) In 2020, California appropriated $51,400,000 in aid for 17,773 community college students with dependent children and it is estimated that for this 2021–22 fiscal year will provide $140,600,000 for 45,104 community college students with dependent children.
(i) Clearly, while other state programs are reaching the demographic, the California Online Community College has not succeeded in recruiting, enrolling, or retaining students, especially students with dependent children.
(j) Community college students with dependent children fit the demographic criteria for which the California Online Community College was intended.

SEC. 2.

 Section 75013 is added to the Education Code, to read:

75013.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2024, the following sums of the college’s funding are hereby appropriated for the following purposes:
(1) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) for increasing the number of single mothers and students with dependent children enrolling and attending community college by supporting the childcare of these students with dependent children.
(2) ____ dollars ($____) for basic needs centers of the California Community Colleges.
(3) ____ dollars ($____) for providing student housing for community college students.
(4) All remaining funding, or the sum of ____ dollars ($____) for providing state financial aid to community college students.
(b) This part shall become inoperative on January 1, 2024, and, as of January 1, 2025, is repealed.

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REVISIONS:
Heading—Line 1.
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