Community colleges: registered nursing programs.

Existing law authorizes a community college registered nursing program that determines that the number of applicants to the program exceeds its capacity to admit students using a multicriteria screening process, a random selection process, or a blended combination of random selection and a multicriteria screening process, as specified. Existing law requires that the criteria applied in a multicriteria screening process include, among other criteria, consideration of the life experiences or special circumstances of an applicant, as listed, and proficiency or advanced level coursework in languages other than English, as provided. Existing law requires credit to be received for languages identified by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges as high-frequency languages. Existing law requires the chancellor to report annually to the Legislature and the Governor on students admitted to community college registered nursing programs through a multicriteria screening process, as provided. Existing law repeals these provisions relating to admission to community college registered nursing programs on January 1, 2025. This bill would add living in a medically underserved area or population, as designated by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, to the list of life experiences or special circumstances specified for consideration in a multicriteria screening process. The bill would explicitly reference the various languages of the African continent as languages that may be identified by the chancellor as high-frequency languages. The bill would extend operation of these provisions relating to admission to community college registered nursing programs until January 1, 2030.