(1) Existing law establishes the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) to be responsible for coordinating public, independent, and private postsecondary education in this state and to provide independent policy analyses and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on postsecondary education issues. The Budget Act of 2011 deleted funding and personnel from CPEC.
This bill would eliminate CPEC and instead would require the Governor to designate a state agency, department, or office as the principal state operating and coordinating entity for postsecondary education with duties including implementation, coordination, and evaluation of the Master Plan for Career Education, coordination and evaluation of postsecondary implementation of intersegmental state policies and initiatives, and implementation of an interstate reciprocity agreement for distance education if the Governor enters into such agreement, as provided. The bill would authorize the Governor to enter into one or more interstate reciprocity agreements through a compact on behalf of the state upon issuing certain written findings. The bill would authorize postsecondary educational institutions to apply to the designated coordinating entity for approval to operate under an interstate reciprocity agreement, as specified.
(2) The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary institutions in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act requires an out-of-state private postsecondary educational institution to register with the bureau, pay a fee, and comply with delineated requirements unless the institution is exempt from complying with these requirements.
This bill would exempt a higher education institution approved pursuant to an interstate reciprocity agreement to which the state is a party from these requirements, except as specified.
For purposes of the act, existing law defines a "private postsecondary educational institution" as a private entity with a physical presence in the state that offers postsecondary education to the public for an institutional charge.
This bill would expand that definition to also include an accredited private entity with no physical presence in the state that offers and awards degrees to the public in this state by means of distance education for an institutional charge if the institution is not approved pursuant to an interstate reciprocity agreement to which the state is a party, thereby subjecting those institutions to the requirements of the act.
The act establishes the Student Tuition Recovery Fund as a continuously appropriated fund to relieve or mitigate economic loss suffered by a student while enrolled in an institution who, at the time of the student's enrollment, was a California resident or was enrolled in a California residency program, prepaid tuition, and suffered economic loss, as defined. Existing law limits the amount of moneys in the fund from exceeding $25,000,000 at any time.
This bill would authorize the bureau, if the fund has a balance of $25,000,000, to extend coverage to a California resident student who suffers economic loss while enrolled in an institution that is approved pursuant to an interstate reciprocity agreement to which the state is a party. By expanding the scope of a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.

Statutes affected:
SB 790: 94801.5 EDC, 94858 EDC, 94923 EDC
02/21/25 - Introduced: 94801.5 EDC, 94858 EDC, 94923 EDC