The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009

1. An institution that had a valid approval to operate on June 30, 2007, issued by the former Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, shall maintain that approval to operate for three calendar years after the expiration date of the approval, as it read on June 30, 2007. An institution that had an application for an approval to operate pending with the former Bureau on June 30, 2007, may continue to operate but shall submit a new application for an approval to operate within six months after the Bureau develops the new application.
   
2. Applications to renew an approval to operate that had been pending action before the former Bureau on June 30, 2007, shall be deemed processed as follows:
   
   --- applications received by the Bureau prior to January 1, 2006, shall be granted an approval to operate until 2012, to coincide with the anniversary date of the current approval maintained by the institution to operate;
   
   --- applications received by the Bureau after January 1, 2006, shall be granted an approval to operate until 2013 to coincide with the anniversary date of the current approval to operate.
   
3. The Student Tuition Recovery Fund established previously in the Education Code is continued in existence. The bureau shall, by January 1, 2011, adopt regulation procedures governing the administration and maintenance of this fund, including requirements relating to assessments on students and student claims against the Student Tuition Recovery Fund.
   
4. Exemptions under this new statute are provided to institutions accredited by the WASC accrediting commissions, and institutions accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. Exemptions are also provided to institutions that (a) have been accredited for at least 10 years by an accrediting agency that is recognized by the US Department of Education, (b) has operated continuously in California for at least 25 years, (c) the institution's cohort default rate on guaranteed student loans does not exceed 10% for the most recent three years, and (d) the institution provides to all students the right to cancel the enrollment agreement and obtain a refund of charges paid through attendance at the second class session, or the 14th day after enrollment, whichever is later. Non-WASC regionally accredited and all nationally accredited colleges are expected to participate in the Student Tuition Recovery Fund.
   
5. The Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education is continued in existence and shall commence operations.The powers and duties established in this law are vested in the Director of Consumer Affairs, who may delegate them to a bureau chief. The Bureau shall adopt, on or before January 1, 2011, regulations to implement this chapter. On or before June 30, 2010, the Bureau shall establish an Internet Web site that provides a range of information including (a) an explanation of the bureau's transition plan for the reconstituted bureau and an explanation of the bureau's scope of authority, and (b) a directory of approved institutions, and a link, if feasible, to the internet web site of each institution.
   
6. Within the bureau a 12-member advisory committee shall be established, with the members appointed on or before July 1, 2010.
   
7. The bureau may conduct workshops to provide applicants and institutions information on application processes, compliance with the law, best practices for providing postsecondary educational programs, and other subjects concerning postsecondary education.
   
8. By January 1, 2011, the bureau shall adopt by regulation minimum operating standards for an institution.
   
9. Prior to enrollment, an institution shall provide a prospective student with a School Performance Fact Sheet containing, as a minimum, the following information: completion rates, placement rates, licensure examination passage rates, and salary or wage information.
   
10. Completion, placement, licensure, and salary disclosure requirements -- an institution shall annually report to the bureau, as part of their annual report, the following information -- job placement rates, license examination passage rates for the immediately preceding two years of programs, salary and wage information for the immediately preceding five years, and the annual wages or salaries of those graduates stated in increments of five thousand dollars.
    
11. The following fees shall be paid by an institution submitting (a) an application for approval to operate: $5,000; (b) an application for an approval to operate a new branch of the institution: $3,000, (c) application for an approval to operate by means of accreditation: $750; (d) renewal fee for the main campus of the institution: $3,500; (d) renewal fee for a branch of the institution: $3,000; (e) renewal fee for an institution that is approved to operate by means of accreditation: $500.
    
12. Termination -- this law will remain in effect only until January 1, 2016, and as of that date is repealed unless a later enacted statue deletes or extends that date.