Postsecondary education: Educational and Economic Goals for California Higher Education.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) as the statewide postsecondary education coordinating and planning agency and provides for its functions and responsibilities. Among other things, the CPEC is required to develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of all aspects of postsecondary education. The CPEC is requested to convene an intersegmental advisory committee on transfer access and performance. The CPEC is also required to periodically review and make recommendations regarding postsecondary programs for adult and continuing education and report periodically to the Legislature and the Governor regarding the financial conditions of independent institutions, their enrollment and application figures, the number of student spaces available, and the respective cost of utilizing those spaces as compared to providing additional public spaces. The bill would delete these specific requirements of the CPEC. (2) Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and private, independent institutions of higher education as the 4 segments of postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes a higher education accountability program under which the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges are required to prepare a list of reports on a regular basis to the Legislature and to state agencies. Under the program the CPEC is required to submit annually a higher education report to the Legislature and the Governor that provides information on significant indicators of the performance of public colleges and universities. This bill would repeal the existing higher education accountability program and require the state to establish a new accountability framework for achieving prescribed educational and economic goals. The bill would require this framework to measure the collective performance of the state's system of higher education in successfully serving students by answering 6 statewide policy questions. The bill would require that the data collected in response to these policy questions be reported to the Legislature and the Governor and made available to the public, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the 3 public segments of postsecondary education to present annual statistical reports on transfer patterns via the CPEC to the Governor and the Legislature. This bill would repeal this requirement.