Postsecondary education: Educational and Economic Goals for California Higher Education.

(1) Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and private, independent institutions of higher education as the 4 segments of postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes a higher education accountability program under which the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges are required to prepare a list of reports on a regular basis and submit them to the Legislature and to state agencies. Under the program, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) is required to submit annually a higher education report to the Legislature and the Governor that provides information on significant indicators of the performance of public colleges and universities. This bill would repeal the existing higher education accountability program and require the state to establish a new accountability framework for achieving prescribed educational and economic goals. The bill would require the Governor to convene a task force by July 1, 2012, to review the framework and recommend a set of overarching goals for the state's higher education institutions, as specified. The bill would urge the task force to consider issues that include 6 statewide policy questions. The bill would require the task force to report to the Legislature and the Governor on the recommended statewide goals and indicators of progress for higher education, as specified. (2) Existing law requires the 3 public segments of postsecondary education to present annual statistical reports on transfer patterns via the CPEC to the Governor and the Legislature. This bill would repeal this requirement.