AB 123 amends existing law and appropriates funding to support higher education as follows, effective June 30, 2025:
(1) Requires the University of California to fund construction grants for two specified student housing projects using revenue bond funding issued by the University of California.
(2) Beginning the 2025-2026 school year, the governing board of a local education agency is required to provide each pupil and the pupil’s parent or legal guardian with information about the California Kids Investment and Development Savings (KIDS) Program and the pupil’s potential eligibility for that benefit, as provided. The bill also requires the Scholarshare Investment Board, for the 2025-26 to 2029-30 fiscal years, to partner with Riverside County Office of Education and the San Diego Unified School District to explore ways to increase participation in the KIDS Program. The bill requires the Scholarshare Investment Board, on or before September 30, 2029, in collaboration with those local educational agencies, to submit an additional report with the same information related to those partnerships to the Department of Finance and Legislature.
(3) This bill requires the California State University and requests the University of California to begin working on establishing a model uniform set of academic standards for high school courses for admission recognition, as specified, on or after October 1, 2025. It also requires that a model uniform set of academic standards be established for college-level coursework taken for credit at a California public college or university by a pupil simultaneously enrolled in high school, as provided. The bill requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to post on its website the model uniform set of academic standards for college-level coursework taken for credit at a California public college or university, as provided.
(4) Requires the Student Aid Commission to use the 3-year cohort default rate certified in 2020 to certify an otherwise qualifying institution for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years for certain Cal Grants.
(5) Existing law requires each participating institution, as a condition for its voluntary participation in the Cal Grant Program, to annually report to the commission specified information regarding its undergraduate programs. Existing law requires the commission to provide on its website the information submitted by a Cal Grant participating institution pursuant to reporting requirements and other information and links that are useful to students and parents who are in the process of selecting a college or university. This bill authorizes the systemwide central office of a public postsecondary educational institution, acting on behalf of the participating institution, to annually report to the commission the information regarding the institution’s undergraduate programs. It also modifies the data that must be reported to the Financial Aid Commission (Commission), establishes an alternative method for reporting that data, and requires the data reported to the Commission to be reported in a manner that complies with applicable federal and state laws to protect individual privacy, as specified.
(6) Existing law establishes the Golden State Teacher Grant Program under the administration of the Commission. For applications received under the program on July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, existing law requires the Commission to provide one-time grants of up to $10,000 to each student enrolled in a professional preparation program leading to a preliminary teaching credential or a pupil personnel services credential if the student commits to working at a priority school or a California preschool program for two years within four years following the date the student completes the professional preparation program, as specified. The bill extends the availability of those grant program funds to applications received under the program on July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
(7) The bill extends the Hire UP Pilot Program and authorization allowing the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to enter into agreements with up to 10 community college districts to provide funding for stipends to formerly incarcerated individuals, CalWORKs recipients, and former foster youth from January 1, 2029, to March 15, 2029, and repeals them on January 1, 2030. It also extends the time for the Chancellor to submit additional reports regarding the pilot program to March 1, 2029.
(8) The Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges is required to issue a report regarding the grants provided un the Native American Student Support and Success Program on an annual basis on or before September 12. The bill amends the reporting time to require the chancellor’s office to develop and submit those reports triennially until September 1, 2030, as specified.
(9) Adjusts the payment of apportionments to community college districts for the 2025-26 fiscal year to defer $408,363,000 of those payments to the 2026-27 fiscal year in accordance with a designated schedule. The bill appropriates that amount to the board of governors for apportionments to community college districts for expenditure in the 2026-27 fiscal year, as specified.
(10) Authorizes the chancellor’s office to enter into agreements with all community colleges to establish Rising Scholars Networks.
(11) Establishes the California Career Passport Program. The office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in partnership with the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, is responsible for managing the program and for developing a Career Passport that provides individuals with a secure digital tool that displays their preparation for employment, academic records, and credit for prior learning, as specified. The bill specifies the goals it must accomplish, including providing individuals with access to their aggregated information for use in applying for employment and in training at no or low cost to them. The bill requires the Chancellor’s office to convene agency and employer representatives to identify technical and policy considerations for building the secure digital tool, and to engage with business and industry leaders collaboratively to ensure Career Passports are useful to, and used by, California’s employers, as specified. The bill appropriates $25,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support the development of the program, as specified. The Chancellor’s office is required to report to the Department of Finance and the fiscal committees of the Legislature a timeline establishing target dates for key deliverables for the program and to collect and report specified data.
(12) Authorizes the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs to use moneys in the Student Tuition Recovery Fund to cover the costs of Student Tuition Recovery Fund claim administration and positions of the Office of Student Assistance and Relief.
(13) Amends the Budget Act of 2023 by reducing the appropriation made to the board of governors for apportionments by $67,001,000.
(14) Amends the Budget Act of 2024 by increasing the appropriation made to the board of governors for apportionments by $10,822,000.
(15) Appropriates $6,558,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support the development of e-Transcript California pursuant to that provision.
(16) Appropriates $5,100,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to provide grants through a community college district to California community-based organizations for financial aid outreach and application assistance supporting current and prospective community college students, as provided.
(17) Appropriates $20,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support emergency financial assistance grants to students attending a community college, as specified.
(18) Appropriates $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for Dreamer Resource Liaisons in assisting students at community colleges to meet certain requirements to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition by streamlining access to all available financial aid and academic opportunities for those students.
(19) Appropriates $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support the California Healthy School Food Pathway program.
(20) Appropriates $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for transfer to a community college for allocation to the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Council to conduct Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic Preapprenticeship Training Academies.
(21) Appropriates $125,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for allocation on a one-time basis to Santa Rosa Junior College for the construction of a fire academy tower.
(22) Appropriates up to $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to support the Credit for Prior Learning Initiative, a systemwide initiative to award degree-applicable or certificate-applicable credit for prior learning opportunities at each campus, as provided.
(23) Appropriates $60,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors to establish the Student Support Block Grant. The bill requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to allocate the funds to community colleges pursuant to a specified formula. The bill authorizes community college districts to use the allocated funds for certain purposes, including assisting students with food, housing, transportation, and other basic needs.
(24) Appropriates $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for allocation to community colleges that are members of the Los Angeles Regional Consortium to assist with workforce recovery efforts and career technical education workforce development associated with the Los Angeles region’s recovery from the Palisades and Eaton fires.
(AB 123 amends Sections 17201, 51225.7, 66205.5, 69432.7, 69433.2, 69617, 69996.9, 78071, 78082, 78084, 79520, and 94923 of, adds Section 84321.65 to, and adds Part 53.8 (commencing with Section 88780) to Division 7 of Title 3 of, the Education Code, adds and repeals Section 68926.2 of the Government Code, to amend the Budget Act of 2023 (Chs. 12, 38, and 189, Stats. 2023).)