Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed
legislation to help California’s college and university students and
improve higher education throughout the state.
These bills bring greater transparency to school fees, establish a
process to develop low-cost digital textbooks, set academic progress
standards for fee waivers, improve information on school loans and
protect student athletes. Governor Brown signed the bills during a
meeting with California college students in his office. View video here.
“AB 970 dramatically helps increase transparency and accountability
surrounding student fee implementation. This will give students and
their families more time to prepare financially and also voice their
concerns before tuition is increased.” – Sean Kiernan, San Francisco
State University.
“The Governor signing AB 970 is a great first step for this academic
year in holding the UC regents more accountable to student's needs, and
ensuring transparency between the UC regents and students with fee hike
implementations. After the meeting with Governor Brown, it was extremely
refreshing knowing that he is in great support of reforming higher
education to ensure affordability to lower income and middle class
students.” – Emily Truax, UC Berkeley.
“With the passage of AB 970, Gov. Brown has taken a great step to making
UC and CSU accountable for the fee increases that are enacted. By
giving students and their families time to prepare for an increase, it
will hopefully curb the amount of students that must drop out when an
increase occurs.”– Jonathan Ly, UC Merced, UCSA Board member.
“The Governor’s action to sign legislation for California’s colleges and
universities demonstrates his commitment to higher education within the
state. Accountability and transparency are two necessary steps to
ensure the continued improvement of education quality and opportunity
for California students.” – Monica Sharma, UC Davis.
“AB 970 is integral for giving students and families substantial notice
for student fee increases so we have a chance to plan for it, especially
in this rough economy...Students simply want to have the opportunity to
defend their education and engage themselves in the process.” – Raquel
S. Morales, UC San Diego, UCSA Board member.
The Governor has signed the following bills:
• AB 970 by Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Mountain View) – University of
California and California State University: systemwide student fees.
• SB 1052 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Public
postsecondary education: California Open Education Resources Council.
• SB 1053 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Public postsecondary education: California Digital Open Source Library.
• SB 1289 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) – Postsecondary education: private student loans.
• SB 1456 by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) – Community colleges: Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012.
• SB 1525 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) – Postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of Rights
