The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall allocate funds provided for purposes of successfully implementing the activities and goals specified in the student equity plans adopted pursuant to Section 78220, consistent with all of the following:
(a) The chancellor shall ensure a community college district has submitted a student equity plan that is consistent with Section 78220. For purposes of allocating funding appropriated in the 2014–15 Budget Act, a community college district that has not submitted a student equity plan shall provide the chancellor with an outline for the community college district’s completion of the student equity plan on or before January 1, 2015.
(b) The chancellor shall ensure that community college districts that serve greater populations of students who are high-need students or disadvantaged students receive greater resources to provide services to students, consistent with the goals and activities specified in their student equity plans.
(c) The chancellor shall establish criteria for calculating the number of high-need and disadvantaged students in a community college district. For purposes of this article, “high-need students” mean students who have an expected family contribution, as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 69432.7, at any time during those students’ matriculation at the institution, that would qualify those students to receive federal Pell Grants and students from ZIP Codes in the bottom two quintiles of college attainment. The calculation of a student’s expected family contribution shall be based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application or an application determined by the California Student Aid Commission to be equivalent to the FAFSA application submitted by that student. For purposes of this article, the determination of who are “disadvantaged” students shall take into account the college participation rate of the college-aged population of, and the socioeconomic status of, a community college district population.
(d) The chancellor shall establish a standard methodology, including guidelines, for measurement of student equity and disproportionate impact for disaggregated subgroups of the student population of the California Community Colleges. The chancellor shall establish the methodology for use in the student equity plans of community college districts.
(e) (1) The chancellor shall, consistent with the goal of eliminating any achievement disparities that are identified pursuant to the requirements of Section 78220, provide guidance to community college districts regarding expenditures and activities to ensure that funding is used to support evidence-based practices to implement student equity plan goals and coordinate services for the targeted student populations through evidence-based practices.
(2) (A) On or before March 15, 2016, and, except as provided in subparagraph (B), March 15 annually thereafter, the chancellor shall submit a report to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, on the expenditure of funds for purposes of this article during the previous fiscal year.
(B) Beginning in the 2025–26 fiscal year, the chancellor may submit the report described in subparagraph (A) annually, on or before March 1, to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 998, Sec. 23. (AB 176) Effective September 30, 2024.)