AB 602 directs the governing boards of California public higher‑education systems to adopt specific student‑behavior rules and requires the University of California and California State University to prioritize health, safety, and well‑being when updating those rules. For eligible students "receiving medical treatment for the personal use of drugs or alcohol," the bill bars disciplinary action for rule violations if the student completes an "appropriate rehabilitation program" and requires campuses to offer that option.
The bill limits the diversion offer to once per academic semester, quarter, or term, allows campuses to place program completion in a student's administrative file, preserves criminal reporting obligations, and expresses legislative intent for campuses to use restorative justice practices when appropriate. Practically, AB 602 forces campuses to design, fund, and operationalize diversion pathways and to reconcile health‑centered responses with safety, equity, and recordkeeping demands.
At a Glance
What It Does
Requires UC, CSU, and community college governing boards to adopt student conduct rules and procedures informing students; mandates UC and CSU to adopt rules by July 1, 2026 that prevent discipline for certain students who complete an appropriate rehabilitation program after a drug or alcohol violation.
Who It Affects
Directly affects the Regents of the UC, Trustees of the CSU, community college governing boards, campus disciplinary administrators, campus health and counseling services, and students who receive medical treatment related to drug or alcohol use.
Why It Matters
Shifts campus discipline from a default punitive response to a treatment‑first model for eligible incidents, creating operational and compliance obligations for campus health, counseling, and conduct offices and changing how student records and repeat offenses are handled.
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What This Bill Actually Does
AB 602 starts with a basic housekeeping requirement: every public postsecondary governing board in California must adopt specific rules governing student behavior and the penalties for violations, and they must have procedures to tell students about those rules and any changes. That procedural baseline matters because the rehab pathways the bill creates must be implemented through those formally adopted rules and communicated to students.
The core change applies to the UC and CSU: the bill requires those systems to put health, safety, and well‑being first and to adopt rules that exempt certain students from disciplinary action for drug or alcohol rule violations if the student completes an "appropriate rehabilitation program." The exemption applies only to students the bill describes as "receiving medical treatment for the personal use of drugs or alcohol." Campuses must offer the opportunity to complete a rehabilitation program; completing it triggers the prohibition on disciplinary action for the underlying drug‑ or alcohol‑related rule violation.Participation in the rehabilitation program is required pursuant to Section 1011i of Title 20 of the U.S. Code and must occur within a timeframe set by the campus administrator handling disciplinary matters. If the student does not complete the required program within that timeframe, the institution can proceed with disciplinary sanctions under its normal rules.
The bill caps the diversion: the offer and protection apply only once per academic semester, quarter, or term; subsequent violations in the same term may lead to disciplinary proceedings, though campuses retain the discretion after proceedings to again offer rehabilitation.AB 602 also addresses two practical details that will shape implementation. First, institutions may include information about the completed program and the discipline exemption in a student's administrative file.
Second, the law does not change state or federal obligations to report crimes related to drugs (possession, manufacturing, distribution, or use). Finally, the statute defines "appropriate rehabilitation program" broadly — counseling, treatment, diversion programs, or even meetings with a school counselor or a drug education group — leaving substantial room for campuses to decide what counts as sufficient treatment.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Governing boards (UC, CSU, community colleges) must adopt written rules and procedures about student behavior and communicate them to students.
UC and CSU must, by July 1, 2026, adopt rules that prioritize campus health and exempt certain students from discipline if they complete an appropriate rehabilitation program for drug or alcohol violations.
The rehab exemption applies to students "receiving medical treatment for the personal use of drugs or alcohol" and requires participation in a program pursuant to 20 U.S.C. §1011i within a campus‑set timeframe; failure to complete the program removes the exemption and permits discipline.
The offer to complete a rehabilitation program and the related protection from disciplinary action apply only once per academic semester, quarter, or term; later violations in the same term may trigger disciplinary proceedings.
Institutions may place information about the rehabilitation program and the exemption from discipline in a student's administrative file, and the law preserves existing crime‑reporting obligations.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Mandate to adopt student conduct rules and notify students
This subsection requires the Regents, Trustees, and community college boards to adopt specific rules and penalties governing student behavior and to establish procedures that inform students of those rules and any revisions. Practically, it means every campus must have a written conduct code and an operational notification process — the foundation on which the diversion and rehabilitation provisions must be layered.
Health‑first rule for UC and CSU: rehabilitation instead of discipline
This subsection directs UC and CSU to prioritize health, safety, and well‑being and to adopt rules that prevent disciplinary action for students who meet the statute's eligibility criteria and complete an appropriate rehabilitation program. It also requires campuses to offer eligible students the opportunity to complete such a program; community colleges are not explicitly placed under this same rehab‑priority deadline, though they remain subject to the general conduct‑rule requirement in subdivision (a).
Limits and repeat‑offense carve‑outs
Subdivision (c) preserves campus authority to discipline students who are subject to sanctions for additional, separate violations — the rehab exemption is not a blanket immunity for concurrent misconduct. Subdivision (f) adds a temporal limit: the rehabilitation offer and protection apply only once per academic semester, quarter, or term. For subsequent drug or alcohol violations in the same term, the institution must initiate disciplinary proceedings, and at the conclusion of those proceedings the campus may either impose sanctions or again offer rehabilitation at its discretion.
Participation requirement and consequence for noncompletion
The statute ties the required rehabilitation participation to Title 20 U.S.C. §1011i: students must participate in an appropriate program within the timeframe designated by the campus administrator overseeing disciplinary actions. If the student fails to complete the program within that timeframe, the campus may proceed with disciplinary measures under its standard rules. This provision centralizes the campus administrator's role in setting timelines and enforcing completion as the gateway to the disciplinary exemption.
Recordkeeping, restorative justice intent, crime‑reporting, and program definition
The bill expressly allows campuses to record completion of the rehabilitation program and the resulting exemption in a student's administrative file, signals an intent that campuses use restorative justice practices for these cases when appropriate, preserves statutory crime‑reporting duties for drug crimes, and defines "appropriate rehabilitation program" broadly to include counseling, treatment, diversion programs, school counselor meetings, or drug education groups. Together these clauses leave significant discretion to campuses on program design, record use, and disciplinary philosophy.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Students who receive medical treatment for personal drug or alcohol use — they gain an alternative to discipline if they complete an approved rehabilitation program, which can preserve academic standing and avoid punitive sanctions.
- Campus health and counseling services — the bill increases demand for counseling, treatment, and diversion services and formally integrates these services into the student conduct process, raising the profile and centrality of health units.
- Students seeking nonpunitive resolution — broader access to restorative justice and diversion options gives students and communities the ability to resolve incidents through treatment and repair rather than formal sanctions.
Who Bears the Cost
- Campus administrations and disciplinary offices — they must draft or amend conduct codes, set timelines, oversee participation compliance, and manage proceedings when students fail to complete programs, increasing administrative workload.
- Institutions' counseling and health budgets — campuses will likely need to expand counseling capacity, contract with external treatment providers, or create new diversion programs to meet demand and meet legal requirements.
- Students who repeat violations or decline services — the statute limits the diversion offer to once per term, so repeat offenders face faster progression to sanctions; students who cannot complete programs (due to schedule, cost, or access) risk discipline.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
AB 602 pits a public‑health approach — diverting eligible students into treatment and away from punishment — against the need for consistent campus safety, accountability for serious or repeated misconduct, and equal access to treatment; the bill gives campuses discretion to resolve that tension, but that discretion risks uneven implementation, privacy trade‑offs, and capacity shortfalls.
Several implementation ambiguities could produce operational and equity challenges. The statute's eligibility trigger — "students receiving medical treatment for the personal use of drugs or alcohol" — is not defined, leaving campuses to decide whether this phrase covers students who seek treatment after an incident, those receiving medical prescriptions, or those treated for overdoses.
That interpretive gap creates a risk of uneven application across campuses and disputes about who qualifies for the diversion offer.
The law gives wide discretion to campus administrators to set timeframes for completing programs and to define what counts as an "appropriate rehabilitation program." While flexibility helps tailor responses to local capacity, it also risks inconsistent thresholds and possible inequities: some campuses could require brief educational sessions while others require multi‑week clinical treatment. Recording program participation in administrative files raises privacy issues and could affect future conduct decisions or employment background checks, even though the bill preserves criminal reporting obligations that may trigger separate processes.
Finally, the once‑per‑term limit balances abuse prevention against treatment access but may produce harsh outcomes where students face barriers to completing programs (scheduling, financial, or transportation). The statute signals restorative justice as an option but leaves its use discretionary, so the practical shift from punishment to treatment will depend on campus resources, procurement of external providers, and policy drafting choices that the bill does not standardize.
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