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BPPE reports new IT system, higher inspection and enforcement activity and fewer pending complaints
Summary
At its May advisory committee meeting, the Bureau for Private and Postsecondary Education (BPPE) told members it is weeks from converting to a new records system, reported increases in inspections and citations, and described declines in its pending complaints caseload and STRF queue.
The Bureau for Private and Postsecondary Education told its advisory committee on May that it expects to convert historical records to a new case-management system called Connect in mid-June and to open Connect to approved institutions in August.
The conversion marks the bureau’s first new system of record in more than 25 years and is intended to let institutions review records, pay fees, and submit reports and applications online. A BPPE staff member said internal conversion will “occur in mid June” and that the bureau will freeze legacy systems as a historical resource at that time.
The change matters because bureau leaders said Connect already shows signs of shortening application timelines: staff reported that certain full nonaccredited applications processed in the new system were approved about 130 days faster on average than comparable cases handled previously. Licensing chief Greg Donkerbrook said a single outlier approval that took 1,136 days inflated averages; excluding that case, that quarter’s full approvals averaged about 390 days.
BPPE reported operational metrics across licensing, compliance, inspections and enforcement. The licensing unit said pending application counts rose by 78 for the quarter while the number of full approvals more than doubled versus the prior quarter. The bureau listed 1,535 total locations under its oversight — 885 main locations, 306 branches and 344 satellites — of which 387 are approved by means of accreditation and 498 are full nonaccredited approvals.
The compliance and inspections units said they increased inspection activity: compliance chief Eric Caseta reported a roughly 10% quarter-over-quarter increase in inspections (116 inspections in the quarter) and noted the bureau has completed nearly as many inspections to date in fiscal year 2024–25 as it did for all of 2023–24. Caseta emphasized that unannounced inspections tend to identify more noncompliance than announced inspections.
Discipline manager Renee Walters said the discipline unit was fully staffed and described two enforcement actions in the quarter — a default revocation and a revocation following an administrative hearing — plus one enforcement outcome that upheld a denial after a statement of issues hearing. The bureau also issued 89 citations in the quarter and said it is on track to exceed last fiscal year’s total.
Investigations chief Daniel Rangel reported complaints received of 288, 265 and 261 in quarters 1–3 respectively, and completion of 257, 304 and 349 investigations in quarters 1–3. He said the pending caseload fell from 610 at the end of quarter 2 to 522 at the end of quarter 3 and was 492 as of the morning of the meeting; pending cases older than one year fell from 221 to 168.
The Office of Student Assistance and Relief reported expanded outreach. Manager Brian Vest said proactive outreach interactions more than doubled from 844 to 1,801 students this quarter because staff attended larger events, including Black College Expos and Steps-to-College events. STRF chief Yvette Johnson said the Student Tuition Recovery Fund paid 79 claims in the quarter for $1,351,734.33; she reported 75 claims pending at the State Controller’s Office with a combined request exceeding $1 million and said the STRF queue stood at 432 (down from 565 the prior quarter).
Staffing updates were repeatedly highlighted: multiple units reported being fully staffed and the bureau said it has been recruiting for select support roles. Committee Chair Lee Farren and member exchanges focused on whether the Connect rollout will reduce processing times and how outreach and inspection strategies will be sustained into the new system.
BPPE staff said they will provide additional information to institutions on account creation and onboarding before the planned August opening of Connect. The committee did not take a formal vote on the operational updates.
Less-critical details: BPPE will continue offering licensing and compliance workshops and is tracking whether webinar attendance correlates with faster application processing. Licensing said it will start measuring timelines for institutions that attended its webinars versus those that did not.
