New Ideas from the State Legislature Seem to Correspond (pun intended) to Old Ones

1916 Correspondence School Ad

AB 1306, as introduced, Wilk.

Public postsecondary education:

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would establish The New University of California as a 4th segment of public postsecondary education in this state. The bill would establish an 11-member Board of Trustees of The New University of California as the governing body of the university, and specify the membership and appointing authority for the board of trustees. The bill would specify the mission and goal of the university. The bill would provide for the appointment of a Chancellor of The New University of California as the chief executive officer of the university.

...The New University of California shall provide no instruction, but shall issue college credit and baccalaureate and associate degrees to any person capable of passing examinations... The New University of California is authorized to contract with qualified entities for the formulation of peer-reviewed course examinations the passage of which would demonstrate that the student has the knowledge and skill necessary to receive college credit for that course...  

The goal of the university is for its students to obtain the requisite knowledge and skills to pass the examinations administered by the university from any source, such as massive open online courses, the student deems appropriate. When the student feels that he or she is ready to take an examination, the student shall pay the examination fee, present acceptable identification at the examination, and, upon passage of the examination, receive academic credit. When a student receives sufficient academic credit in prescribed courses, the university shall issue an appropriate degree to that student...

Full bill text at http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_1301-1350/ab_1306_bill_20130222_introduced.html

An article about this bill appeared yesterday in the Chronicle of Higher Education:
http://chronicle.com/article/Under-California-Bill/138235/

Sally forth with your degree!