(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the California Student Athlete Fair Opportunity Act of 2005.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that the Trustees of the California State University provide appropriate academic support services for student athletes and that those athletes are given a fair opportunity to earn a baccalaureate degree.
(c) The trustees shall ensure, through executive order or regulation, that all California State University campuses that provide athletic scholarships for student athletes also provide summer athletic scholarships commencing with the 2006 summer term. The provision of these summer athletic scholarships shall be consistent with both of the following:
(1) The requirements of Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972, as amended from time to time.
(2) The bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as amended from time to time.
(d) Students who are otherwise ineligible for admission to the specific campus of the California State University, but who are admitted under policies that permit those students to be admitted if they have athletic ability that will contribute to the campus, shall be given first priority for summer athletic scholarship assistance.
(e) (1) Summer athletic scholarships awarded pursuant to this section shall, at a minimum, be sufficient to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and supplies as calculated for purposes of the summer cost of attendance under the provisions of Title IV of the federal Education Act of 1965, as it is amended from time to time.
(2) Nothing in this part shall be construed to limit a summer athletic scholarship awarded pursuant to this section to any amount less than that which is allowed under the bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
(3) A summer athletic scholarship awarded pursuant to this section shall be of sufficient amount and duration with regard to the number of summer sessions and the number of units covered, to provide a student athlete a fair opportunity to correct academic progress problems through attendance in a summer session.
(f) A summer athletic scholarship awarded pursuant to this section may be funded through any revenue source available to, or procured by, the campuses of the California State University, including, but not necessarily limited to, gate receipts, donations from alumni and others, corporate sponsorships, associated student contributions, and campus-based student fees that may be legally used for this purpose. In accordance with subdivision (i), the California State University shall not use state General Fund moneys or state university fee revenue to fund summer athletic scholarships. The California State University shall not set aside, for the purposes of summer athletic scholarships, any institutional financial aid funds for which any financially needy students are eligible. A student athlete may only receive summer financial aid assistance if that student athlete otherwise qualifies for that assistance irrespective of his or her status as a student athlete.
(g) (1) The trustees shall ensure, through executive order or regulation, that all California State University campuses that are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association have a comprehensive plan for the academic support of student athletes.
(2) The plan adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall be consistent with the requirements of Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972, as amended from time to time, and the bylaws of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as amended from time to time. This plan shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, coordination with existing academic and financial support services at the campus, evaluation of the academic needs of student athletes, a set of academic support initiatives, a financing plan for these initiatives and a fund-raising strategy for the augmentation of these initiatives, and a regular evaluation mechanism to monitor the academic progress of athletes and the effectiveness of academic support programs.
(3) Services provided under this subdivision may include any of the following:
(A) Additional athletic financial assistance, which covers an amount up to the cost of attendance under the provisions of Title IV of the federal Education Act of 1965, as amended from time to time, for additional periods of attendance necessary for an athlete to complete the requirements for a baccalaureate degree after the student’s period of athletic eligibility has ended.
(B) Employment assistance, including work study programs.
(C) Tutoring.
(D) Mentoring.
(E) Accommodations in the scheduling of class sections to provide a fair opportunity for student athletes to attend required courses in a manner that allows them to participate in the requirements of their sports.
(h) (1) The trustees shall report to the Legislature and the Governor on or before November 1, 2006, and subsequently on or before November 1 of each odd-numbered year, commencing on November 1, 2007, regarding the status of athletic academic progress and athletic academic support in the California State University system for all campuses that are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
(2) If any data that are required to be reported pursuant to paragraph (3) could yield an individual identification of an athlete, or if any data or information required to be reported pursuant to paragraph (3) could be considered to be of a proprietary nature as related to the sports enterprise of the campus, those data may be forwarded under separate cover to the Governor and to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature with a request for confidentiality.
(3) The report required by this subdivision shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, all of the following information:
(A) A five-year history of the graduation rate and Academic Progress Rate of each team on each campus as calculated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to the extent these rates are available.
(B) Annual admission category information for each team on each campus that indicates the number and percent of students admitted who were not eligible for regular admission to the campus or the university.
(C) A summary of the academic initiatives and support programs available to the athletes at each campus.
(D) If the campus participates in Division I, including any of its subparts, of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and if any team or the athletic program overall has an Academic Progress Rate score of less than 925 for any year, a summary of the corrective action planned by the campus or athletic department as well as a report on sanctions, if any, imposed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
(E) The total budget for the athletic programs and each team, including an itemization of the amount spent on athletic scholarships and the amount spent on summer athletic scholarships.
(i) The California State University shall not encumber, for the purposes of this section, any moneys from the state General Fund or any state university fee revenue.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 538, Sec. 140. Effective January 1, 2007.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018