Completion, Placement, Licensure, And Salary Disclosure Requirements - Private Postsecondary Institutions - CA Education

Section § 94928

This law section defines specific terms related to students and graduates within educational programs. It clarifies that a 'cohort population' is the group of students starting the program together on a designated date. 'On-time graduates' are students who finish in the exact duration the program is supposed to take, though institutions can also report those who take longer. 'Graduates available for employment' are those ready for work post-graduation, excluding those who can't work for specific reasons like further education or military duty. 'Graduates employed in the field' are those working in jobs related to their studies within six months of finishing their program. Lastly, 'students available for graduation' are those who can complete the program, excluding deceased, incarcerated, or military-called students.

As used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Cohort population” means the number of students that began a program on a cohort start date.

(b) “Cohort start date” means the first class day after the cancellation period during which a cohort of students attends class for a specific program.

(c) “On-time graduates” means the number of students who complete a program within 100 percent of the published program length. An institution may separately state completion information for students completing the program within 150 percent of the original contracted time, but that information may not replace completion information for students completing within the original scheduled time. Completion information shall be separately stated for each campus or branch of the institution.

(d) “Graduates available for employment” means the number of graduates minus the number of graduates unavailable for employment.

(e)

(1) “Graduates employed in the field” means graduates who are gainfully employed in a single position for which the institution represents the program prepares its graduates, beginning within six months after a student completes the applicable educational program. For occupations for which the state requires passing an examination, the period of employment shall begin within six months of the announcement of the examination results for the first examination available after a student completes an applicable educational program.

(2) The bureau shall define by July 1, 2014, specific measures and standards for determining whether a student is gainfully employed in a full-time or part-time position for which the institution represents the program prepares its graduates, including self-employment or conducting freelance work, and may set the standards for the hours per week and duration of employment and utilize any job classification methodology the bureau determines appropriate for this purpose, including, but not limited to, the United States Department of Labor’s Standard Occupational Classification codes.

(3) This subdivision shall not prohibit the bureau from authorizing an institution to aggregate single positions held by a graduate for purposes of meeting the hours per week standards established by the bureau.

(f) “Graduates unavailable for employment” means graduates who, after graduation, die, become incarcerated, are called to active military duty, are international students that leave the United States or do not have a visa allowing employment in the United States, or are continuing their education at an accredited or bureau-approved postsecondary institution.

(g) “Students available for graduation” means the cohort population minus the number of students unavailable for graduation.

(h) “Students unavailable for graduation” means students who have died, been incarcerated, or called to active military duty.

cohort population on-time graduates graduates employed in the field gainful employment cohort start date graduates unavailable for employment students available for graduation employment standards educational programs completion information employment status self-employment job classification postsecondary institution students unavailable for graduation

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 258, Sec. 1. (SB 410) Effective January 1, 2016. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 94950.)

Section § 94929

This section requires educational institutions to report their program completion rates annually to a bureau and include them in their School Performance Fact Sheet. Specifically, they need to calculate these rates by dividing the number of students who graduate on time by the number of students available to graduate. However, if the institution already reports graduation data to a federal system called the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, they can use that data instead.

(a) An institution shall annually report to the bureau, as part of the annual report, and publish in its School Performance Fact Sheet, the completion rate for each program. Except as provided in subdivision (b), the completion rate shall be calculated by dividing the number of on-time graduates by the number of students available for graduation.

(b) In lieu of calculating graduation data pursuant to subdivision (a), an institution may report graduation data reported to, and calculated by, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System of the United States Department of Education.

completion rate annual report School Performance Fact Sheet on-time graduates students available for graduation Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System graduation data reporting institutional reporting requirements education metrics graduation rate calculation federal reporting alternative

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 258, Sec. 2. (SB 410) Effective January 1, 2016. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 94950.)

Section § 94929.5

This law requires educational institutions to annually report and publish a few key performance metrics related to their programs. They must provide job placement rates for graduates who were available for employment, and license exam passage rates for programs requiring such exams, using state data where possible. They must also report on graduates' salaries in $5,000 increments. If applicable, they need to disclose the institution's three-year federal student loan default rate and the percentage of students with federal student loans.

The law also ensures that this information is useful to students and policymakers, while being based on credible data and not overly burdensome to compile. Institutions don't need to include certain students in these reports but must clearly say so if they exclude them.

(a) An institution shall annually report to the bureau, as part of the annual report, and shall publish in its School Performance Fact Sheet, all of the following:

(1) The job placement rate, calculated by dividing the number of graduates employed in the field by the number of graduates available for employment for each program that is either (1) designed, or advertised, to lead to a particular career, or (2) advertised or promoted with any claim regarding job placement.

(2) The license examination passage rates for the immediately preceding two years for programs leading to employment for which passage of a state licensing examination is required, calculated by dividing the number of graduates who pass the examination by the number of graduates who take the licensing examination the first time that the examination is available after completion of the educational program. The institution shall use state agency licensing data to calculate license examination passage rates. If those data are unavailable, the institution shall calculate the license examination passage rate in a manner consistent with regulations adopted by the bureau.

(3) Salary and wage information, consisting of the total number of graduates employed in the field and the annual wages or salaries of those graduates stated in increments of five thousand dollars ($5,000).

(4) If applicable, the most recent official three-year cohort default rate reported by the United States Department of Education for the institution and the percentage of enrolled students receiving federal student loans.

(b) Nothing in this section shall limit the bureau’s authority to collect information from an institution to comply with this section and ensure, by regulation and other lawful means, that the information required by this section, and the manner in which it is collected and reported, is all of the following:

(1) Useful to students.

(2) Useful to policymakers.

(3) Based upon the most credible and verifiable data available.

(4) Does not impose undue compliance burdens on an institution.

(c) Data and information disclosed pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a) is not required to include students who satisfy the qualifications specified in subdivision (d) of Section 94909, but an institution shall disclose on its fact sheet and to the bureau whether its data, information, or both, excludes any students pursuant to this subdivision.

job placement rates license examination passage rates graduates salaries cohort default rate federal student loans School Performance Fact Sheet employment statistics salary increments state agency licensing data regulatory compliance educational programs data collection policy usefulness student outcomes institutional reporting

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 840, Sec. 31. (SB 1247) Effective January 1, 2015. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 94950.)

Section § 94929.7

This law requires institutions to keep information that supports certain published rates, like job placement rates, for five years. The data must be stored electronically and made available to a regulatory bureau if asked. Additionally, each school must list the jobs they're counting when they calculate how many graduates are employed in their field. The bureau will specify what details need to be kept to verify these rates.

(a) The information used to substantiate the rates and information calculated pursuant to Sections 94929 and 94929.5 shall do both of the following:

(1) Be documented and maintained by the institution for five years from the date of the publication of the rates and information.

(2) Be retained in an electronic format and made available to the bureau upon request.

(b) An institution shall provide a list of employment positions used to determine the number of graduates employed in the field for purposes of calculating job placement rates pursuant to this article.

(c) The bureau shall identify the specific information that an institution is required to document and maintain to substantiate rates and information pursuant to this section.

job placement rates documentation requirements graduate employment electronic recordkeeping regulatory compliance employment position list substantiate rates information retention institution obligations bureau request employment data calculation of rates graduate statistics compliance verification educational institutions

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 585, Sec. 8. (AB 2296) Effective January 1, 2013. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 94950.)

Section § 94929.8

This law requires that by January 1, 2011, a standardized method must be created for educational institutions to gather reliable and up-to-date data as per the regulations. Failing to follow these regulations is considered a serious violation of the law.

(a) On or before January 1, 2011, and pursuant to Section 94877, the bureau shall establish, by regulation, a uniform method for institutions to obtain statistically valid, current, and representative data to comply with this article.

(b) A violation of the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) is a material violation of this chapter.

uniform method education institutions data collection statistically valid data up-to-date information regulation compliance material violation establish regulations representative data bureau requirements education data standards current data requirement Section 94877 educational compliance regulations establishing data methods

(Added by Stats. 2009, Ch. 310, Sec. 6. (AB 48) Effective January 1, 2010. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 94950.)

Section § 94929.9

This section required the creation of recommendations for improving how private postsecondary institutions in California report graduation outcomes like salaries. The bureau needed to consider existing data and reporting methods used by federal and state bodies. They were to evaluate if these could be integrated for better accuracy and consistency. The bureau could hire an independent contractor to help with this evaluation. A report was due to the Legislature by December 31, 2016, and these requirements were scheduled to be removed by January 1, 2017.

(a) The bureau shall consider the graduate salary and other outcome data and reporting requirements that are utilized by the United States Department of Education, the Student Aid Commission, accrediting agencies, and student advocate associations. The bureau shall consider the reporting requirements of public postsecondary institutions in California to evaluate the feasibility of adopting these reporting requirements for private postsecondary institutions. The bureau shall make recommendations to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2016, on how reporting requirements under this chapter should be altered to ensure accurate, useful, and consistent reporting by private postsecondary institutions to the bureau and students.

(b) The bureau is authorized to enter into a personal services contract with an appropriate independent contractor to assist in the evaluation required by subdivision (a). In this connection, the Legislature finds, pursuant to Section 19130 of the Government Code, that this is a new state function.

(c)

(1) A report to be submitted to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed January 1, 2017.

graduate salary data outcome data reporting private postsecondary institutions reporting requirements United States Department of Education Student Aid Commission accrediting agencies student advocate associations California public institutions Legislative recommendations independent contractor Section 19130 Government Code Section 9795 Government Code Section 10231.5 postsecondary education data

(Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 840, Sec. 32. (SB 1247) Effective January 1, 2015. Repealed as of January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 94950.)