The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary educational institutions in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to provide biannual written updates to the Legislature that describe the bureau’s progress in protecting consumers and enforcing the act, as specified. The act is repealed on January 1, 2027.

This bill would instead require the director to provide those written updates to the Legislature annually and would revise and recast provisions of the act.

The act requires an out-of-state private postsecondary educational institution to register with the bureau, pay a fee, and comply with additional delineated requirements, including reporting to the bureau certain enforcement or adverse occurrences. The act requires the bureau, after receipt of such a report, to determine if the institution will be permitted to continue to enroll new students, as provided. The act requires the bureau to receive complaints about these institutions.

This bill would instead authorize the bureau, after receipt of a report or a complaint, to request from the institution information necessary to determine whether the institution’s registration should be revoked or have conditions placed on it.

The act applies to private entities with a physical presence in the state that offer postsecondary education to the public for a charge, but exempts certain institutions from its application, including certain institutions that only offer educational programs to members of a bona fide trade or fraternal organization, as specified, and certain religious organizations if instruction is limited to the principles of that religious organization.

This bill would clarify that institutions can qualify for the trade or fraternal organization exemption only if they offer nondegree educational programs to those members, and that adding religious perspectives or verbiage to the titles or descriptions of otherwise secular programs does not limit instruction to the principles of that religious organization for purposes of the religious organization exemption. The bill would specify processes for and limits on granting a verification of exemption.

The act requires an institution seeking to offer one or more degree programs to satisfy certain requirements to obtain a provisional approval to operate. The act requires, within the first 2 years of the issuance of provisional approval to operate degree programs, a visiting committee to make a recommendation to the bureau regarding an institution’s progress to achieving full accreditation. The act requires the bureau to automatically suspend a provisional approval to operate if an institution fails to comply with certain requirements. The act requires the bureau to grant an institution that is accredited an approval to operate by means of its accreditation. The act exempts an accredited institution from certain recordkeeping requirements.

This bill would require accreditation for degree-granting institutions to cover all degree programs offered by the institution. The bill would require, for institutions seeking a provisional approval to operate, that enrollment of students on student visas not exceed more than 25% of total enrollment in any provisionally approved degree program. The bill would authorize, within the first 4 years of the issuance of a provisional approval to operate degree programs, the bureau to empanel a visiting committee to make a recommendation to the bureau regarding an institution’s progress to achieving full accreditation. The bill would require the bureau to automatically terminate a provisional approval to operate if an institution fails to comply with certain requirements. The bill would specify, for an approval to operate by means of its accreditation, that a nondegree program not within the scope of accreditation is not included as an approved program by the bureau without the written consent of the institution’s accreditating agency. The bill would remove the recordkeeping exemption for accredited institutions. The bill would remove a requirement that the bureau indicate in an annual report and make available on its internet website the number of enforcement actions taken by the bureau against institutions.

The act requires an institution to obtain bureau approval before making certain substantive changes to its operations, including an addition of a separate branch more than 5 miles from the main or branch campus. The act requires that a student enrollment agreement, school catalog, and other disclosures meet certain requirements.

This bill instead would require an institution to obtain bureau approval before adding a separate branch, regardless of the distance from the main or branch campus. The bill would revise the requirements for a student enrollment agreement, school catalog, and other disclosures.

The act establishes the Student Tuition Recovery Fund, requires the bureau to adopt regulations governing the administration and maintenance of the fund, including requirements relating to assessments on students and student claims against the fund, and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund to the bureau for specified purposes.

This bill would expand the claims under which a student is eligible for payment from the fund and the evidence available to the bureau in making determinations about student eligibility under the fund.

The bill would make other conforming, technical, and nonsubstantive changes and would extend the operation of the act by 4 years to January 1, 2031.

By expanding the scope and extending the operation of the Student Tuition Recovery Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Under existing law, the act specifies conduct by regulated institutions that, if undertaken, is a crime.