Career College Association calls on Gov. Schwarzenegger to veto SB 823

CCA called on California governor Arnold Schwarzennegger to veto SB 823, legislation to regulate career colleges in the state.

CCA agreed that a regulatory oversight regime is needed to protect the interests of students and noted that it supports reasonable regulation. In the letter, CCA President Harris N. Miller noted, however, “…SB 823 would impose a regulatory regime on career colleges that is complex, costly, confusing and ultimately counterproductive. CCA member schools operate in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, and, without doubt, I can tell you that if SB 823 becomes law, California will have the most complex and convoluted regulatory scheme in the country.”

The Association placed problems with the bill into four major categories:

  • The legislation undermines the federally recognized equivalence of regional and national accreditation;
  • The legislation corrupts the educational environment and the relationship between student and institution, creating the presumption that the institution is out to hoodwink the student rather than advance that person’s education and career prospects;
  • The legislation adopts a patronizing approach to students and sours their introduction to career education; and
  • The legislation contains numerous provisions which void due process and create substantial and unfair liability risks for the institution.

In calling for the veto of SB 823, Miller noted that previous legislative efforts drew much closer to the mark in creating an appropriate regulatory regime for California’s private postsecondary educational institutions. “These approaches were captured in measures introduced in 2006 by Sen. Figueroa and more recently by Assemblyman Niello. While CCA did not agree with every provision in those bills, they contained an overall balance and level of reasonableness,” Miller said. A copy of the CCA letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger is available here. CCA contact: Brian Newman.

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