FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2024
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Establishes New “University Of California Online.”
Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
SACRAMENTO, CA – Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures on January 10, 2024.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides a calendar of deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
ESTABLISHES NEW “UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ONLINE.” INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. California’s public higher education systems— University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges— currently offer courses in person and online. This measure would amend the California Constitution to require creation of an online public university named “University of California Online” with two divisions: one providing online courses for credit towards an academic degree, open to anyone who pays tuition; and one providing free public access to all online courses not for credit. Requires tuition for for-credit courses to be based on their cost, and additional fees for most out-of-state students. Requires State Treasurer to issue bonds to fund University of California Online, repaid from tuition. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Operating a new public online university could cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars to low billions of dollars annually. All of the cost is to be covered through student tuition revenue generated by the new university. The measure is not intended to have any direct fiscal impact on state or local governments. (23-0034.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1975 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 23-0034.
The proponent of the measure, Boyd Roberts, must collect signatures of 874,641 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than July 8, 2024. The address for the proponent is 237 San Joaquin Street, Laguna Beach, CA 92651. The proponent may also be contacted at Boyd.UCOCA@gmail.com.
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Contact: SOS Press Office
sospress@sos.ca.gov
