ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Fifth Legislature, Second Regular Session

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2034

CTEDs; associate degrees

Purpose

Authorizes a career technical education district (CTED) to offer regionally-accredited or nationally-accredited associate degrees for CTED programs on the in-demand regional education list. Outlines associate degree program proposal requirements, approval procedures and reporting requirements.

Background

CTEDs are formed by school districts to deliver to students in grades 9 through 12 career technical education (CTE) programs that: 1) have a defined pathway to career and postsecondary education in a specific vocation or industry; 2) fill a high-need vocational or industry need; 3) lead to vocational or industry certification, licensure or career readiness and entry-level employment skills that allow a student to obtain work before receiving an associate or baccalaureate degree;
4) require a majority of instructional time to be in a laboratory, field-based or work-based learning environment; 5) require specialized equipment and materials that exceed the cost of a standard education course; and 6) for which an industry or vocation has agreed to provide financial or technical support. An elected CTED board manages and controls a CTED, including the content and quality of courses, quality of teachers, teacher salaries, and reimbursement of other entities for facilities the CTED uses (A.R.S. §§ 15-391 and 15-393).

The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) must annually compile an in-demand regional education list of approved CTE programs that lead to a career path in high-demand with
median-to-high-wage jobs in that region. The OEO must collaborate with the Arizona Department of Education and incorporate industry feedback in developing the list (A.R.S. § 15-393; ADE).

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

Provisions

1. Authorizes a CTED to offer associate degrees that are:

a) accredited by a regional or national accreditation agency approved by the U.S. Department of Education; and

b) for CTED programs that are on the OEO in-demand regional education list.

2. Requires each CTED that offers an associate degree program to provide the student, at the time of enrollment in a program, with a list of institutions to which the associate degree is transferable.

3. Requires a CTED that offers an associate degree program to meet:

a) all applicable regional or national accreditation requirements; and

b) all applicable state licensure requirements.

4. Directs any CTED seeking to offer an associate degree program to, beginning on the general effective date, apply for accreditation from a regional or national accreditation agency.

5. Directs a CTED board to determine whether to offer an associate degree program based on:

a) whether the CTED is able to demonstrate industry demand for the associate degree program;

b) a financial analysis that shows the short-term and long-term impacts to initiate and sustain the associate degree program including the source of monies, facilities requirements, faculty, personnel and administrative costs;

c) whether the associate degree program would unnecessarily duplicate the degree programs offered by other institutions of higher education in Arizona; and

d) the ability of the CTED to support the associate degree program with and the adequacy of the facilities, faculty, administration, libraries and other resources.

6. Directs a CTED located in the same county as the main campus of a public university or community college that is developing an associate degree program to notify the university or community college at least 60 days before submitting the prescribed proposed program report to the CTED board.

7. Allows the public university or community college, within 30 days after the CTED submits the notice, to provide a written response to the CTED for its review.

8. Directs a CTED, before the CTED board authorizes an associate degree program, to submit a report to the CTED board that includes:

a) the proposed academic degree program name and proposed inception term;

b) the academic department that will offer the proposed program;

c) whether the instructional modality would be immersion, online or both;

d) the total credit hours necessary to complete the proposed program;

e) a brief description of the proposed program;

f) a learning outcomes and assessment plan that includes concepts, competencies, assessment methods and measures;

g) the projected enrollment by year for the first three years the program is offered;

h) evidence of market demand for the proposed program;

i) similar degree programs offered at other higher education institutions in Arizona;

j) the new resources required, including a long-term faculty recruitment plan indicating the ability to pay faculty salaries and identify recruitment strategies;

k) any public university's or community college's written responses to the CTED's notice of program development; and

l) proof of transferability of credits earned in the proposed program to another accredited institution for each program offered.

9. Specifies that the notice and response do not allow a public university or community college to prevent a CTED from offering an associate degree program.

10. Requires each CTED that offers an associate degree program to submit, by October 1 of the fifth year after initially offering the program, a report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) that reviews the first five years of the program.

11. Prescribes the following information for inclusion in the report to JLAC:

a) the number of associate degree programs implemented, applicants, applicants admitted and applicants enrolled in, and applicants who receive degrees from, each program;

b) each associate degree program's costs, including cost per degree and the funding sources used to finance each program;

c) current workforce demand trends that require associate degrees in each specific program offered;

d) current completion and continuation rates for each cohort of participating students in each program, if available;

e) the extent to which each program fulfills identified workforce needs for new associate degree programs;

f) information on graduate job placement for each program;

g) for each program, the cost to student, amount of financial aid offered and graduate student debt levels; and

h) time-to-degree rates and completion rates for each program.

12. Requires each CTED that offers an associate degree program to annually report, by December 1, to the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee the following information for the immediately preceding school year:

a) the total number of students pursuing an associate degree at the CTED;

b) the total number of associate degrees completed;

c) workforce data showing demand for each associate degree program offered; and

d) the average tuition cost per credit hour for each associate degree program offered.

13. Defines community college, community college district, main campus and public university.

14. States that the Legislature finds and declares that:

a) associate degree programs offered pursuant to this act do not otherwise alter the role and mission of a CTED;

b) the operational costs of CTED associate degree programs must be funded through student tuition and program fees; and

c) additional taxpayer dollars may not be required to fund the new associate degree programs offered by the CTEDs.

15. Becomes effective on the general effective date.

Amendments Adopted by Committee

1. Adds nationally-accredited associate degrees to programs a CTED may offer.

2. Allows a CTED to meet either regional or national accreditation requirements.

3. Requires each CTED to provide a student enrolling in an associate degree program with a list of institutions to which the associate degree is transferable.

House Action Senate Action

ED 2/8/22 DPA 7-3-0-0 ED 3/15/22 DPA 6-2-0

3^rd Read 2/17/22 50-9-1

Prepared by Senate Research

March 16, 2022

LB/slp