Student fees: special sessions.

(1) The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth, among other things, the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, including the University of California and the California State University, and their respective institutions of higher education. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, act to make a provision applicable. A provision of the act prohibits summer session fees at all campuses of the University of California and California State University from exceeding the fees charged per credit unit for any other academic term, if the state provides funding to offset any revenue losses that may occur for prescribed purposes. This bill would instead prohibit those summer session fees from exceeding the fees charged per credit unit for any other academic term, except for courses taken solely for the purpose of career enhancement or job retraining and not taken for credit towards a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree. (2) Existing law requires certain fees to be required of, and collected from, students enrolled in each special session, pursuant to rules and regulations prescribed by the Board of Trustees of the California State University. Special sessions are defined as self-supporting instructional programs conducted by the California State University, which include, but are not limited to, career enrichment and retraining programs. This bill would revise the definition of special sessions by limiting them to career enrichment and job retraining programs that do not include courses offered for credit towards a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree.