Higher Education

For 50 years, they've avoided it. But California's public universities are now inching closer to using the word they've long viewed as taboo: tuition. Unlike schools in every other state, California's public campuses in effect have banned official use of the word and what it means — that students pay at least a hefty share, if not most, of their education costs. The state's renowned master plan for higher education, which in 1960 established separate roles for the University of California, California State University and the community colleges, also declared that the public institutions "shall be tuition free to all residents."

California has proved to be a land of opportunity where hard work delivers prosperity and nurtures innovation. Its human capital has helped the state develop into the world's ninth-largest economy, which attracts nearly half of the venture capital in the nation. But this opportunity and success have not reached everyone, and the California dream is in danger of slipping away. Today, California ranks first in the country in the number of working low-income families. "Working Hard, Left Behind," a new study conducted by the Campaign for College Opportunity, found that millions in the state are working hard but are increasingly left behind.

Re "Report slams colleges run for a profit," July 31 For many years I worked as a teacher at several such for-profit schools. I also was on the administrative end and was privy to the behind-the-scenes chatter of school owners in my area and all over the country. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the conclusion of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) that there is "overwhelming documentation of exorbitant tuition, aggressive recruiting practices, abysmal student outcomes, taxpayer dollars spent on marketing and pocketed as profit, and regulatory evasion and manipulation" is an understatement.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown wants to tie some state funding for California's public universities to a host of new requirements, including 10% increases in the number of transfer students from community colleges and the percentage of freshmen graduating within four years. Brown, who has repeatedly said the universities should be leaner and serve more students, is asking for equivalent increases in several other areas as well, according to a copy of his plan obtained by The Times.

If you're the parent of a child aiming to attend a California State University campus next fall, you might want to give him or her a nudge this morning. Today is the deadline for Cal State applications, and overloaded admissions officers are expecting a last-minute flood. In years past, the deadline was a flexible one, in keeping with the state's mission to allow all eligible students to enroll in one of the campuses, considered the middle rung between community colleges and our flagship UC system.

The proposals for the University of California now being considered in Sacramento ? limiting tuition and fees, freezing executive and faculty salaries and increasing legislative control over the UCs ? are well intentioned. But they are a recipe for ruining a great public university system. A public university has only three choices: It can be subsidized by the state, it can raise tuition and fees to make up needed revenue, or it can be mediocre. Without adequate revenue, faculties will shrink, meaning fewer and larger classes; the quality of faculty teaching and research will diminish; programs and facilities will be inadequate for education.

California has proved to be a land of opportunity where hard work delivers prosperity and nurtures innovation. Its human capital has helped the state develop into the world's ninth-largest economy, which attracts nearly half of the venture capital in the nation. But this opportunity and success have not reached everyone, and the California dream is in danger of slipping away. Today, California ranks first in the country in the number of working low-income families. "Working Hard, Left Behind," a new study conducted by the Campaign for College Opportunity, found that millions in the state are working hard but are increasingly left behind.

There are good reasons the Wednesday argument before the Supreme Court in the case called Fisher vs. University of Texas has prompted more than the usual amount of speculation about the intentions of the justices and the case's likely outcome. For higher education and, we believe, American society at large, the stakes could not be higher. Abigail Fisher's claim that the University of Texas unconstitutionally considered race in assembling its incoming undergraduate class - resulting, she argues, in her exclusion from the student body - reengages one of the most consequential legal and moral debates in American history.

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposals to slash state spending on higher education has triggered anxiety across California's already budget-battered public colleges and universities about possible new waves of staff and faculty layoffs, reductions in class offerings and higher tuition bills. Administrators said it was too soon to say definitively how they would respond if the Legislature approves the $1.4 billion in proposed state funding cuts for the University of California, California State University and the state's community college system.

Early this year I was asked, as the chancellor at UCLA, to prepare the campus for nearly $100 million in budget cuts. It was our share of the $500-million reduction proposed for the University of California system in Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal. And that's the good news. As we all know, more extreme reductions lie ahead because of the state's budgetary crisis and political stalemate. The governor has attempted to forestall those further reductions by asking voters to approve extensions of several state taxes, taxes that Californians already pay. Thus far, there are not enough legislators to support putting the extensions up for a vote on the June ballot.

Maria Martinez's kitten heels clicked as she trailed behind a recent campus tour at UC Irvine. Except for those short stiletto heels, Martinez might not have stood out from thousands of other prospective parents touring campuses in California this spring. But unlike most of them, Martinez had never seen the vastness of a large college campus before, and now she struggled to keep up in shoes that are ill-suited for walking. Martinez, a garment worker, might have been even more unprepared if it weren't for a 3-year-old program called Parent College, an unusual education effort run by the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools aimed at low-income and immigrant parents who don't know enough about college to help their teenage children get admitted.

Enrollment in California's community colleges has plunged to a 20-year low as budget-strapped campuses have had to slash classes and instructors, according to a report released Monday. Course offerings are at a 15-year low, dropping 21% from 2007-08 to 2011-12, with music and dance, education and business programs particularly hard hit. The report, published by the Public Policy Institute of California, charts a system staggering under the weight of unprecedented funding cuts: $1.5 billion from 2007-08 to 2011-12, considerably larger than those during past economic downturns.

The state Senate is taking a rare field trip, heading to Long Beach on Tuesday to learn how career technical education programs are working in some model schools. Most of the 40 senators are expected at the bipartisan California State Senate Policy Conference on Education, which includes tours of career academy classrooms to review how academics and technical training are being merged. "We know that one of the best ways to improve outcomes for our students and to close achievement gaps is to align rigorous academics to the world of work and careers," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)

The chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District announced Tuesday that he will resign his post, leaving behind a system grappling with poor graduation and transfer rates and daunting budget cuts. Daniel LaVista made his announcement in a districtwide email in which he extolled the progress made in strengthening accountability and bringing better coordination to the nine-campus district but acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead. "Even with a healthier FY14 budget proposed for the state's community colleges, there are no quick fixes," LaVista said, for increasing student success, addressing accreditation problems and completing the multibillion-dollar building program.

Not long after President Obama proclaimed in his second inaugural that "an economic recovery has begun," we learned that the U.S. economy actually shrank in the last quarter. Many economists believe this is a temporary setback. This recovery may be the weakest in American history, but the economy isn't cratering either. Still, you can bet that if the economy continues to contract, Obama will propose the same remedy he always has: more "investments" in education, infrastructure and various industries of the future.

The United States is leading a revolution in higher education. With the advent of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, U.S. universities will be increasingly exporting hundreds of college-level classes every year to the rest of the world. The implications of this are huge. At the least, students in every country with Internet service will have access to the best scholars and cutting-edge knowledge in their discipline. Go online (often for free) and top classes in statistics, computer science, economics, physics and the humanities are at your fingertips.

Decrying what they called an assault on higher education, thousands of faculty and students at California State University campuses across the state rallied, marched and held teach-ins Wednesday to protest steep funding cuts and rising tuition. Dubbed the Day of Class Action, events were held on all 23 Cal State campuses, featuring speakers, workshops, gospel singers, guerrilla theater and, on one campus, a New Orleans-style "funeral" march. The protests were largely peaceful and there were no reports of disruptions, although student groups staged sit-ins in hallways outside the offices of presidents Jolene Koester at Cal State Northridge and James M. Rosser at Cal State L.A. No arrests were made, and students left the buildings by the end of the day. Peaceful sit-ins were also held at campuses in Pomona, San Francisco and the East Bay. With education funding at risk and higher tuition possible in many states, students and faculty at public universities elsewhere also held rallies and teach-ins Wednesday, including at Portland State in Oregon, Rutgers University in New Jersey and the University of Massachusetts' Boston campus.

SAN FRANCISCO - University of California President Mark G. Yudof announced Friday that he is resigning in August for health reasons, ending a five-year stint in which he guided the 10-campus system through one of its worst financial crises and controversies over rising tuition. His announcement comes at a time of change throughout California's higher education system. Gov. Jerry Brown is aggressively pressing the university to cut costs and to reform its traditional methods of teaching and research.

Public schools California's K-12 schools are among the biggest winners in the governor's budget, with a proposed funding increase of $2.7 billion. The money would come with plans to shift some of it away from wealthy suburban districts so it can be spent on schools that serve poor students and non-English speakers. But those receiving less money than in the past would have more flexibility in spending it, because Gov. Jerry Brown's plan would eliminate dozens of program requirements set by Sacramento.