(a) The California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), as defined in Section 10861, is hereby authorized to provide its services to all local educational agencies.

(b) In furtherance of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 10867, the department shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the CCGI, as authorized in subdivision (a), to accomplish all of the following:

(1) Share course level data from each local educational agency to validate, as they are submitted to the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CalPADS), if the course meets the requirements of A-G coursework, as defined in Section 10861.

(2) Share pupil course level data to inform individual pupil accounts on the operational tools.

(3) Collect additional data elements to ensure proper functioning and to incentivize use of the operational tools.

(4) Share pupil level data with the Student Aid Commission, postsecondary educational institutions, and programs that support college and career planning, application, and transition, as permitted under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g).

(5) Notwithstanding subdivision (g) of Section 10860 and subdivision (c) of Section 10863, fully effectuate the intent of the Cradle-to-Career Data System Act pursuant to Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 10850) of Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1.

(c) The department shall provide guidance to local educational agencies through CalPADS to clarify data standards and promote best practices. The department shall refer local educational agencies to CCGI for technical assistance in reconciling discrepancies between A-G coursework, as listed in their local pupil information system, and how those courses are registered in the course management portal at the office of the President of the University of California, or a successor A-G course management portal.

(d) The department shall notify local educational agencies of the additional use of CalPADS data and advise local educational agencies to include in their annual parent notifications, as required by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. § 1232g), that the CalPADS data will now:

(1) Be shared with the CCGI.

(2) Be used to provide pupils and families with direct access to online tools and resources.

(3) Enable a pupil to transmit information shared with the CCGI to both of the following:

(A) Postsecondary educational institutions for purposes of admissions and academic placement.

(B) The Student Aid Commission for purposes of determining eligibility for, and increasing uptake of, student financial aid.

(e) The Legislature finds and declares its intent that the CCGI, upon full implementation of this section, provide all of the following services:

(1) A free college and career planning curriculum and internet website for grades 6 to 12, inclusive, designed to provide touch points three to six times per year.

(2) Financial aid curriculum for grades 9 to 12, inclusive.

(3) Support to local educational agencies to plan for and monitor use of planning tools and curriculum.

(4) Tools to enable pupils and their families to determine if they are on track to meet college qualifications, based on their individual goals, and to allow authorized secondary school counselors to view the progress of individual pupils on meeting California State University and University of California eligibility requirements.

(5) Validation of data relating to A-G admission requirements in local pupil information systems that is flagged with respect to the University of California Course Management Portal.

(6) Technical assistance to local educational agencies on data cleanup processes.

(7) Providing statewide pupil identification numbers to the California Community Colleges, the California State University, the University of California, and the Student Aid Commission so that information stored in local systems will improve matches for research purposes and the Cradle-to-Career Data System.

(8) Transcripts processed in near real time with the California Community Colleges, the California State University, the University of California, and the Student Aid Commission, using an application programming interface.

(9) Allow secondary school pupils to give permission to inform public colleges if they are a first-generation college student, homeless, migrant, or economically disadvantaged.

(10) Provide information on race or ethnicity, grade point average, high school graduation status, and where pupils applied to college to the Student Aid Commission through a faster application programming interface format.

(11) Prepopulation of California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California application fields related to statewide pupil identification numbers, transcript data, demographic information, and other data elements that can reduce barriers for pupils.

(12) Development of new planning tools related to career and technical education pathways, apprenticeships, transfer options, and regional labor markets.

(13) Potential shift of data provision from local educational agencies to the department.

(f) The scaling of the CCGI is further intended to address all of the following problems and state needs:

(1) Reduce equity gaps in college-going rates by ensuring that all pupils and their families have the information needed to develop college and career plans, starting in grade 6, and to secure financial aid.

(2) Enable secondary school counselors to monitor where pupils are applying and support them to complete applications.

(3) Identify secondary school courses that are incorrectly flagged as fulfilling California State University and University of California eligibility requirements compared to the University of California Course Management Portal.

(4) Reduce structural barriers by allowing pupils to launch college and financial aid applications from a single location, using one set of log on credentials.

(5) Ensure that pupils can easily and quickly transmit academic records to public postsecondary educational institutions when applying for admission.

(6) Share additional information with the Student Aid Commission to validate and reduce the time to determine eligibility for Cal Grant awards.

(7) Reduce the administrative burden on local educational agencies and colleges to transmit and validate records.

(8) Strengthen data that can be used to match pupil records.

(g) On or before September 1, 2022, and on or before September 1 of each year thereafter, the Riverside County Office of Education shall report to the Director of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee regarding the annual budget for the CCGI as supported through the annual Budget Act. The annual report due on or before September 1, 2022, shall only address any changes to the first annual report provided in March 2022 pursuant to this subdivision. Each annual report thereafter shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, all of the following information:

(1) All other public and private sources of revenue.

(2) How prior fiscal year funds were spent and current fiscal year funds are budgeted to be spent.

(3) A budget change proposal, if any additional funds are being requested for the budget year.

(4) The names and locations of local educational agencies that have partnered with the CCGI, including identification of local educational agencies that were added in the prior fiscal year and are intended to be added in the budget year.

(5) The names of postsecondary educational agencies that have partnered with the CCGI, including identification of postsecondary educational agencies that were added in the prior fiscal year and the budget year and identification of any postsecondary educational agencies that terminated their partnership with the CCGI.

(6) Website analytics on identifying the number of accounts, types of activities completed, and the number of pupils that applied to college via the CCGI.

(7) Information on progress towards meeting the deliverables expected of the CCGI pursuant to subdivision (a).

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 48, Sec. 88. (SB 114) Effective July 10, 2023.)