community colleges

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LAO Describes Slash and Burn Budget if Voters Do Not Approve Tax Extensions

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts have noted, Gov. Brown at one point seemed poised to present a budget from Hell that would assume no tax extensions. He would then offer the tax extensions as salvation. However, that strategy was not followed and the budget actually proposed assumes voters enact the tax extensions. However, the Legislative Analyst has – at the request of some legislators – has in fact indicated what a budget from Hell might look like. Below is an item excerpted from Capital Alert that describes the finding and notes the higher ed implications: Legislative analyst identifies massive cuts if taxes…

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New PPIC Poll on Public Higher Ed

Byuclafaculty

A new poll on public higher ed is out from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). In broad terms, Californians are evenly split on whether taxes should be raised to support higher ed. But they oppose tuition increases. They are more likely to say that not enough is being spent on higher ed than to support raising taxes. PPIC summarizes the findings as follows: About three-fourths of Californians say state funding for public higher education is inadequate. Most Californians favor more money for higher education even at the expense of other state programs. Almost 60 percent of all parents…

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What Jerry Promised

Byuclafaculty

California Watch has a summary of Jerry Brown’s “promises” concerning higher ed (and looks at the prospect for higher tuition). Below are the promises listed as summarized in the article: Jerry Brown’s higher education promises: Convene a “representative group” to create a new higher education Master Plan: “This situation calls for a major overhaul of many components of the postsecondary system. We need to convene a representative group to create a new state Master Plan.” Create an online “extended university” program: “The introduction of online learning and the use of new technologies should be explored to the fullest, as well…

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Final Report from Committee on the Future (Except It is a Draft)

Byuclafaculty

There is now a draft report on the UCOP website – entitled DRAFT final report (so it is final but still a draft?) – from the UC Committee on the Future. There are not a lot of surprises. Recommendations are included to speed up undergrad degrees, make transfers easier from community colleges, pursue online education, change the word fee to tuition, have cohort-based tuition schedules, achieve more efficiencies, do more fund raising, wring more money out of grants, have more out-of-state students who pay full freight, etc. Maybe the most controversial is differential tuition across the campuses. The draft report…

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The Master Plan at 50: Using Distance Education to Increase College Access and Efficiency

Byuclafaculty

The LAO has a new report out on distance learning in higher education and degree programs under the title above. Below is the Executive Summary of that report. Below that is a video presentation related to the report:Distance Education Provides Additional Tool for Advancing Master Plan’s Goals. Fifty years ago, California adopted the Master Plan for Higher Education, a framework document designed to promote universal access for students and cost–effective coordination among the state’s colleges and universities. At the time, postsecondary education generally required students to travel to a campus for in–person classes with an instructor. Today, many students have…

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California Supreme Court Reported Skeptical of Challenge to In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

Byuclafaculty

A 2001 California law allows students who graduate from a high school within the state to attend any public higher education institution at in-state (resident) rates. Thus, a foreign-born student who was brought to the U.S. illegally and attended a California high school is treated the same for tuition purposes as any other state resident. (Such students are ineligible for various federal assistance programs, however.) A challenge to the law was brought recently and heard by the state Supreme Court. Excerpt from a report on the L.A. Now blog of the LA Times: October 5, 2010 – The California Supreme…

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No Bananas: Rationing of Community College Courses

Byuclafaculty

UC and UCLA have boasted of the degree to which their undergrads are transfer students from community colleges. Such transfers reduce tuition costs to students and increase undergrad capacity at UC. However, due to budget cuts, community colleges are effectively rationing entry – not to their campuses, but to courses needed to transfer. See the LA Times article below: Community college class wait lists throw a wrench into students’ plans: Enrollment in California’s colleges has surged, but budget cuts leave many students unable to get the courses they need, meaning it’ll take them longer to earn a degree and join…

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Bill Signed by Governor to Ease Path from Community Colleges to UC and CSU

Byuclafaculty

I attended a talk yesterday by Chancellor Block at which he indicated that about 40% of UCLA undergrads are transfers from community colleges. Coincidentally, the governor signed some related legislation. One bill mandates some steps by CSU. Respecting its constitutional autonomy, a second bill urges similar action by UC. The text of the governor’s press release is below: 09/29/2010 GAAS:618:10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Bills to Guarantee CSU Admission to Community College Graduates To increase access to the California State University (CSU) system, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed SB 1440 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and AB 2302…

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Out-of-State Recruiting of Dissatisfied California Students

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has an article about a New York State college recruiting California students at community colleges due to limited course offering here. Does this matter for UC? UC is pushing the idea of more transfer students from community colleges. And the legislature is anxious to see more transfers. The ad on the left appeared in 60 community college newspapers. Full story at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/12/cobleskill

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LA Times Editorial Calls for Easing Transfers to UC & CSU

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times editorial refers mainly to transfers from community colleges to CSU but then notes: Another bill, AB 2302, introduced by Assemblyman Paul Fong (D- Cupertino), asks the University of California to study and report back on what it can do to streamline the transfer process for community college students. (Unlike CSU, UC cannot be forced to make such changes via legislative mandate.) As the state’s elite public university, UC must of course maintain a higher standard for admission, and its schools should be given more leeway on setting their own requirements. Still, there are too many disconnects. Students…