94800-94801
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 94800-94801
94800. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009. 94800.5. Whenever a reference is made to the former Private Postsecondary Education and Student Protection Act, the former Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act of 1989, or the former Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 94700) of Part 59 of Division 10 of Title 3 of the Education Code, as it read on June 30, 2007, by the provisions of any statute or regulation, it shall be construed as referring to the provisions of this chapter. Whenever a reference is made to the former Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education by the provisions of any statute or regulation, it shall be construed as referring to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. 94801. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) In 2007, more than 400,000 Californians attended more than 1,500 private postsecondary schools in California. (b) Private postsecondary schools can complement the public education system and help develop a trained workforce to meet the demands of California businesses and the economy. (c) Numerous reports and studies have concluded that California's previous attempts at regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools failed to ensure student protections or provide effective oversight of private postsecondary schools. Previous laws and regulatory oversight were allowed to expire on June 30, 2007, with some skeletal functions, continued by urgency legislation, that were allowed to expire on June 30, 2008. (d) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to ensure all of the following: (1) Minimum educational quality standards and opportunities for success for California students attending private postsecondary schools in California. (2) Meaningful student protections through essential avenues of recourse for students. (3) A regulatory structure that provides for an appropriate level of oversight. (4) A regulatory governance structure that ensures that all stakeholders have a voice and are heard in policymaking by the new bureau created by this chapter. (5) A regulatory governance structure that provides for accountability and oversight by the Legislature through program monitoring and periodic reports. (6) Prevention of the deception of the public that results from conferring, and use of, fraudulent or substandard degrees. (e) The Legislature advises future policymakers to continually and carefully evaluate this chapter and its administration and enforcement. Where there are deficiencies in the law or regulatory oversight, the Governor and the Legislature should act quickly to correct them.