AB 368: College and Career Access Pathways partnerships.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a community college district to enter into a College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnership with the governing board of a school district or a county office of education, or the governing body of a charter school for the purpose of offering or expanding dual enrollment opportunities for pupils who may not already be college bound or who are underrepresented in higher education, with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation rates, or helping high school pupils achieve college and career readiness. Existing law requires the CCAP partnership agreement to outline the terms of the CCAP partnership, as specified, and to establish protocols for information sharing, joint facilities use, and parental consent for high school pupils to enroll in community college courses. Existing law authorizes a community college district participating in a CCAP partnership to assign priority for enrollment and course registration to a pupil seeking to enroll in a community college course that is required for the pupils CCAP partnership program, as specified. Existing law requires the governing board of a community college district participating in a CCAP partnership to exempt special part-time students from certain fee requirements.

This bill would specify groups of students who may be considered underrepresented in higher education for these purposes. The bill would require the governing board of a community college district participating in a CCAP partnership to enroll high school pupils in any course that is part of a CCAP partnership offered at a community college campus, and would expressly authorize courses to be offered at the community college campus or the participating high school campus. The bill would require a community college district to assign priority for enrollment and course registration to a pupil seeking to enroll in a community college course that is required for the pupils CCAP partnership program. The bill would also exempt all pupils seeking to enroll in a community college course that is required for the pupils CCAP partnership program from specified fee requirements.

Existing law requires, for each CCAP partnership agreement, the affected community college district and school district or county office of education to report annually to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges specified information.

This bill would require, on or before May 1 of each year, the chancellor to aggregate that information and submit a report of that information to the Legislature, the Director of Finance, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction.