Lawmakers Press BPPE on Fees, Enforcement and Student Protections at Sunset Review Hearing

A joint California legislative hearing on March 17 examined recommendations to reauthorize and strengthen the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, with lawmakers pressing the bureau on financial solvency, enforcement tools and student protections.

Bureau Chief Deborah Cochran told members that the agency has increased inspections and disciplinary actions under her leadership but still faces a long-term structural deficit that has been addressed only with position reductions, temporary general-fund infusions and other short-term measures. "We are meeting our mandates regarding inspections of approved institutions for the first time since the act was chaptered in 2009," Cochran said, but she added the bureau "cannot take additional steps without legislative action to increase fees or reduce mandates."

The hearing focused on three interlocking issues: how the bureau holds bad actors to account, whether proposed fee changes are justified, and the health and design of the Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF). Senators and assembly members pressed the bureau on examples of schools that target immigrant communities, on whether fines and license revocation are adequate deterrents, and on the bureau’s ability to prevent previously…