Senate passes Cabaldon bill to open online learning to California students, schools
SACRAMENTO -- In a bipartisan vote, the California State Senate Monday passed SB 790, a bill by Sen. Christopher Cabaldon that would remove barriers that today prevent California universities and students from pursuing online learning opportunities.
Today, California is the only state that doesn’t belong to the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, an interstate pact allowing higher education institutions to offer online classes in other states. SB 790 authorizes the governor to join the agreement.
California schools now have to reach individual agreements and pay fees for every course they offer online to students in other states. That leaves California schools with unfilled courses and means out-of-state students often can’t take advantage of the world-class instruction offered by UCs, CSUs, and private schools in the state.
This one-off approach means “California schools do not participate in online learning on the national scale,” Sen. Cabaldon said. “When I taught at Sacramento State University, the notion that we would apply to every state in the country, pay a fee, fill out forms, on the chance that maybe someone from Wyoming would enroll in my course? That’s not realistic.”
Joining a reciprocity agreement would also improve protections for California students. Today most out-of-state institutions must register with the state Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education, but they aren’t subject to most state regulations.
For California universities, maximizing online enrollment is especially important post-pandemic, when most college students in California take at least some classes virtually and a third of those take classes from an out-of-state university.
California schools, particularly in the CSU system, have seen enrollment fall in recent years and are struggling to maintain course offerings. An influx of online students from other states could help.
SB 790 is part of a package of bills to assist California’s students and universities authored by Sen. Cabaldon, a former Community College Vice Chancellor who also worked as a consultant to the Assembly Education Committee. SB 640, which passed the Senate last week, would automatically admit qualifying high school graduates to a list of CSUs, no application required.
SB 790, which now heads to the Assembly, is supported by the University of California, California State University, and the Association of Independent California Colleges & Universities.
It requires the governor to designate a state agency, department or office as the state’s main operating and coordinating body for higher education, including for purposes of entering into a reciprocity agreement for online education.
The bill specifies that by joining a reciprocity agreement, California could not give up its right to enforce its own student protections, nor could the agreement interfere with the authority of the Attorney General (AG) or any other state or local agency to enforce laws protecting against consumer fraud.
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Senator Christopher Cabaldon represents the 3rd Senate District which includes the cities of Oakley and Brentwood in Contra Costa County; American Canyon, Calistoga, Napa, Yountville, and St. Helena in Napa County; Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo, in Solano County; Cotati, Rohnert Park, and Sonoma in Sonoma County; Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, and Woodland in Yolo County; as well as Isleton in Sacramento County.