CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE
CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
1107 NINTH STREET
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95814
(916) 445-8752
March 23, 1993
M 93-03
TO:
Thelma Scott-Skillman
Vice Chancellor for Student Services
FROM:
Tom Nussbaum
Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
SUBJECT:
Payment of the Enrollment Fee in Installments
Synopsis: Under current law, the enrollment fee is to be collected at the time of enrollment, except that a
district may establish policy authorizing the collection of the fees to be deferred under conditions determined
by the governing board (Title 5, Section 58502). In my opinion, this provision of Title 5 gives governing boards
clear authority to provide for collection of the enrollment fee over the course oF the semester or quarter (or
perhaps even the academic year) for which it is charged. Thus, for instance, the student might pay.one-third of
the enrollment fee at the time of enrollment, and make two other payments (by specified deadlines or
otherwise) during the course of the semester or quarter.
Under the authority of Section 59410 of Title 5, a district is authorized to withhold grades, transcripts,
diplomas, and registration privileges from any student who fails to pay a proper financial obligation to the
district. Under this provision a district could prohibit a student from registering in a subsequent semester,
quarter, or academic year if he or she failed to make the necessary installment payments of the enrollment
fee.
Section 72252 of the Education Code requires the Chancellor to reduce apportionments by up to 10% to any
district that does not collect the enrollment fee. The fact that some students might not make all of the
installment payments of their enrollment fee need not trigger the Chancellor's responsibility to withhold
apportionments. If a district has a process in place to prohibit future registration, the fact that it doesn't collect
every installment From every student need not be interpreted as a overall failure of the district to collect the
enrollment fee.
If further legal assurance is required on this issue, the Board of Governors could adopt a regulation specifying
that no apportionment will be withheld in instances where a student fails to make all installment payments for a
particular semester or quarter.
Response Requested/Date: From our discussions in Cabinet, it is not clear that our colleagues in the field
know that districts have the legal authority to .collect the enrollment fee in installment payments. Perhaps., at
the appropriate time, this analysis should be distributed to the appropriate district officials.
Contact: Tom Nussbaum, at 445-4826.