At issue for some time has been California’s compliance with the following requirement in federal regulations: “The State must have a process or processes, applicable to all higher education institutions, to review and appropriately act on complaints concerning the institution, including enforcement of applicable State laws.” To resolve this issue, a State Authorization Agreement has now been finalized and will be reflected in California state law, authorizing the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) to serve this function. Even those private nonprofit institutions that are exempt from oversight by BPPE by virtue of WSCUC accreditation should now contract with BPPE to designate that agency as the official state agency to receive any complaints against them.

All private nonprofit institutions should have received a June 25 email communication from Joanne Wenzel, BPPE Bureau Chief, regarding this issue. That email included a cover letter; a standard state contract and instructions for completing the contract.  Please note that this contracting possibility extends only to private non-profit institutions: private for-profit institutions will NOT be covered by the State Authorization Agreement and must be approved and overseen by BPPE even if accredited by WSCUC.