Bill Text: CA AB2458 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2458 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Public postsecondary education: student parents.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 962, Statutes of 2024. [AB2458 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2458-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate August 15, 2024

Amended IN Assembly May 16, 2024

Amended IN Assembly April 04, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2458

Introduced by Assembly Members Berman and Boerner
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Arambula)
~~(Coauthor: Senator~~ (Coauthors: Senators Ashby and Limón)

February 13, 2024

An act to amend Section 66027.81 of, and to add Section 66027.82 to, the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2458, as amended, Berman. Public postsecondary education: student parents.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California as the 3 public segments of postsecondary education in the state. The missions and functions of these segments are set forth in the Donahoe Higher Education Act.

Existing law requires each campus of the California State University and the California Community Colleges, and requests each campus of the University of California, to host on its internet website a student parent internet web page that contains information that clearly lists all on- and off-campus student parent services and resources, as specified, including, among other student parent services and resources, information on the California Earned Income Tax Credit and the Young Child Tax Credit.

This bill would require the information on student parent internet web pages to include additional information on student parent services and resources, including several other federal and state tax credits, state and federal financial aid applications and programs, and the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program. The bill would require each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and would request each campus of the University of ~~California, among other things,~~ California to, on or before the start of the 2026–27 academic year, (1) implement a policy developed by the respective systemwide chancellor or president for estimating and adjusting cost of attendance information for student parents, as specified, (2) ~~establish a data field in the campus’s~~ enter student parent data for specified uses into the respective systemwide data management information ~~system to identify student parents for certain purposes,~~ system, as revised to accommodate this data by the systemwide chancellor or president pursuant to the bill, and (3) update its campus net price calculator to include a baseline student parent cost estimate, as specified. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Greater Accessibility, Information, Notice, and Support (GAINS) for Student Parents Act.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) California has made great strides to reduce poverty among low-income families with children through efforts to increase receipt of state and federal aid.

(2) A California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy study released in February 2021, titled “Untapped Opportunity: Understanding and Advancing Prospects for Californians without a College Degree,” found that California is home to approximately 3,900,000 residents with dependent children who lack a college degree, making it difficult to earn a family-sustaining wage.

(3) California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy’s analysis of the American Community Survey data from 2017 to 2021, inclusive, and National Postsecondary Student Aid Study administrative collection data from 2020 finds there are approximately 300,000 undergraduate student parents in California enrolled in college, 61 percent of whom are first-generation college students.

(4) According to the Public Policy Institute of California’s report released in December 2021, titled “Keeping College Affordable for California Students,” helping students better afford college will help close persistent racial equity gaps in college readiness, access, completion, degree attainment, and workforce entry.

(5) In its report released in January 2020, titled “Clarifying the True Cost of College for Student Parents,” California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy estimates student parents pay an annual additional cost of attendance of seven thousand five hundred ninety-two dollars ($7,592) more per child than nonparenting students attending college, once childcare and food costs are explicitly included.

(6) To adequately plan their attendance, student parents need accurate estimates of the total cost of college, including tuition and fees, food, housing, books and supplies, transportation, and the additional costs related to parenting.

(7) Colleges are federally required to disclose college costs through net price calculators that are based on the assumption that students are part of their parent’s household, and often they do not account for the additional costs related to parenting.

(8) A Government Accountability Office report released on September 12, 2019, titled “Higher Education: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid,” found the affordability of childcare was a top barrier to enrolling and attending postsecondary education.

(9) The Government Accountability Office’s “Higher Education: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid” report also found student parents with dependent children were unaware of the ability to request a dependent care allowance adjustment to better afford college.

(10) Further, the Government Accountability Office’s “Higher Education: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid” report found that two-thirds of campus internet websites lacked information about the dependent care allowance.

(11) A Government Accountability Office report released on December 5, 2022, titled “Financial Aid Officers: Action Needed to Improve Information on College Costs and Student Aid,” found nearly two-thirds of colleges, in a nationally representative sample of colleges, follow one-half or fewer of the 10 best practices for providing clear and standard information in their financial aid offers.

(12) Current federal regulations allow financial aid officers to adjust a student’s cost of attendance to include the estimated actual expenses incurred for dependent care.

(13) Some postsecondary educational institutions that participate in state-funded financial aid programs do not take full advantage of federal flexibility related to adjusting the cost of attendance to include the dependent care allowance.

(14) The federal FAFSA Simplification Act (Public Law 116-260) expands existing consumer information requirements by explicitly stating that each institution must make cost of attendance information publicly available on its internet website, which includes the dependent care allowance for childcare costs.

(15) Helping student parents graduate and enter careers that pay a living wage sooner helps California as a whole, and offers student parents and their children a more prosperous future.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to help Californians with children better afford college by ensuring that they obtain the financial aid that they are eligible to receive.

SEC. 2.

Section 66027.81 of the Education Code is amended to read:

66027.81.

Each campus of the California State University and the California Community Colleges shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, do all of the following:

(a) By no later than February 1, 2023, host on its internet website a student parent internet web page that is clearly visible and easily accessible from a drop-down menu on the internet home page of the campus’s internet website and include the information described in subdivision (b) conspicuously on both the internet website of the campus via the student parent internet web page, and on the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution.

(b) (1) The student parent internet web page shall contain information that clearly lists all on- and off-campus student parent services and resources that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(A) The description of the service or resource.

(B) The location where the service or resource is provided.

(D) Any eligibility restrictions on accessing the service or resource.

(2) Of the services and resources provided on the student parent internet web page pursuant to paragraph (1), the student parent internet web page shall include, but is not limited to, information on the following on- and off-campus student parent services and resources:

(A) Priority registration for a student parent established pursuant to Section 66025.81.

(B) The CalFresh Program.

(I) The federal Earned Income Tax Credit.

(II) The California Earned Income Tax Credit.

(III) The Child Tax Credit.

(IV) The Young Child Tax Credit.

(V) The Foster Youth Tax Credit.

(VI) The federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.

(VII) The federal American Opportunity Tax Credit.

(VIII) The federal Lifetime Learning Credit.

(ii) Free tax filing services offered online through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs.

(D) State and federal financial aid applications and programs, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(i) The Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

(ii) The California Dream Act application.

(iii) Awards for students with dependent children established pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 69465) of Chapter 1.7 of Part 42.

(iv) Any other federal or state financial aid application or program available for students with dependent children.

(E) The California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

(F) The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program.

(G) Cost of attendance adjustment information, including the dependent care allowance.

(H) Resources, as determined by the institution to be most appropriate, for campus or local childcare providers.

(I) Any other financial support or income available for student parents.

(d) Provide to faculty the student parent internet web page link and encourage faculty to include the student parent internet web page link in their syllabi.

(e) To ensure that the student parent internet web page remains useful to student parents, the student parent internet web page shall be reviewed and updated no later than the first day of every fall and spring semester or no later than the first day of every fall and spring quarter.

SEC. 3.

Section 66027.82 is added to the Education Code, to read:

66027.82.

(a) For purposes of this section, “student parent” has the same meaning as defined in Section 66025.81.

(b) On or before July 31, 2025, the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the office of the Chancellor of the California State University shall, and the office of the President of the University of California is requested to, develop and disseminate a policy to estimate and adjust cost of attendance information for student parents. The policy shall include student parent cost of attendance policy guidance that includes, but is not limited to, both of the following:

(1) A financial aid methodology to calculate and update a student parent’s cost of attendance that includes the actual expected costs of food, housing, transportation, and dependent childcare. This methodology shall be based on available annual cost of attendance information that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(A) Food plans developed by the United States Department of Agriculture.

(B) The State Department of Social Services’ reimbursement ceilings for subsidized childcare, disaggregated by county, age, and types of care.

(C) The actual cost of on-campus family housing, the cost of a student parent’s off-campus housing, and, if a student parent does not have safe or adequate housing, the fair market rent, as described in Section 888.113 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for an apartment in the metropolitan area or nonmetropolitan county where the campus is located, disaggregated by student parent family size.

(D) Transportation costs, disaggregated by student parent family size, that considers available information ~~based on~~ such as institutional survey responses and ~~data provided pursuant to~~ the Student Aid Commission’s Student Expenses and Resources Survey.

(2) Model instructions for purposes of all of the following:

(A) Identifying a student parent for purposes of adjusting the student parent’s cost of attendance to include food, housing, transportation, and childcare expenses. The model instructions shall include, but are not limited to, confirmation by a financial aid officer based on information found in the student parent’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act application.

(B) Updating and posting cost of attendance and dependent care allowance information, using student-friendly language, on campus internet websites. The posted information shall include, but is not limited to, financial aid internet websites, and the student parent internet web page, as set forth in Section 66027.81.

(D) Explaining the dependent care allowance to student parents.

(E) Informing student parents of affordable childcare options offered by the campus or within the local community.

(c) On or before the start of the 2026–27 academic year, each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, implement the policy developed and disseminated pursuant to subdivision (b).

(d) (1) (A) On or before the start of the 2026–27 academic year, the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall establish a data element in the systemwide data management information system to identify student parents.
~~(d)~~

(B) On or before the start of the 2026–27 academic year, each campus of the California State University ~~and the California Community Colleges~~ shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, ~~do all of the following:~~ establish a data field in the campus’s data management information system to identify student parents.

(1)Establish a data field in the campus’s data management information system to identify student parents. The data field shall use confirmation from all campus sources available to identify student parents. For each student parent, the data field shall include, but is not limited to, any of the following forms of confirmation:
~~(A)Confirmation by a financial aid officer based on information found in a student parent’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act application.~~
~~(B)Confirmation under a government program, such as campus CalFresh or CalWORKs officers.~~
~~(C)Confirmation by student services staff who serve the student parent, such as a campus childcare center, family resource center, or other program.~~
~~(D)Confirmation by the campus registrar’s office of a student parent with priority enrollment status.~~
~~(E)Confirmation by any other campus staff to reduce duplication of efforts and reduce the administrative burden across all campus departments in identifying a student parent.~~
(2) On or before the start of the 2026–27 academic year, each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, do all of the following:
~~(2)~~

(A) Enter student parent data in the data field or the data element established pursuant to paragraph (1).

~~(3)~~

(B) Report student parent data obtained pursuant to this subdivision to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the office of the Chancellor of the California State University, and the office of the President of the University of California, respectively, for ~~inclusion~~ their request of the governing board established pursuant to Section 10864 to include that student parent data in the California Cradle-to-Career Data System established pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 10850) of Chapter 8.5 of Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1.

~~(4)~~

(C) Use the data field or the data element established pursuant to paragraph (1) for additional purposes, which may include, but are not limited to, granting priority course registration and providing information about available public benefits to student parents.

(e) On or before the start of the 2026–27 academic year, each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, update the campus net price calculator to include a baseline student parent cost estimate, disaggregated by age and number of dependent children, using the methodologies and information described in this section and any available federal guidance on best practices.

SEC. 4.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.